My Little Pony Friendship is Magic: Elements of Reality
by ZeroKnight115
Summary: What if there had been three new arrivals? How would the story be affected? How would it change the timeline? So when a trio of humans who are bound to be followed by others are pulled into Equestria, the multiverse, along with the story changes. In process of rewrite.
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first fanfic, and will start off as a retelling of the episodes. However, certain things will be changed to accommodate the story. If you think that there is something wrong, safely assume that it's wrong for a reason**.

**This first chapter is fairly long, but I feel that it helps start the story better**

**Please no flames. I appreciate constructive criticism.**

**Everything that I didn't make up belongs to their respective owners.**

**I hope you enjoy.**

**My Little Pony Friendship is Magic: Elements of Reality**

It was a quiet evening in late December, newly fallen snow on the grass and a soft breeze blowing through the air, and the setting sun causing light to bounce off the frozen lake in ominous, yet beautiful ways.

Colin would usually take the time to enjoy every moment of it, and just sit down and think. About life. About himself. And about who he was, or his place in the world. But today was different. Colin sat on his porch, remembering the recent events that had changed him, that had caused something inside him to die, that had unlocked that psychopathic glee that came bursting through his mind like a missile when ever he saw blood being spilled. Colin seemed to be your average teenager, with shaggy blackish-brown hair and hazel eyes that had recently developed a golden tint, athletic, intelligent. At school he was not the least popular kid, nor the most popular one, which was the way he liked it. The way he saw things, he was at the top in every situation, at school, and when working towards his goals. But, that was the last thing on his mind at the moment.

If you met Colin you would think of him as a perfectly calm normal person, but deep inside his heart, lay the anger, the killer instinct, and the pure _hatred_ he had gathered over the years. But by some miracle, it never came out; he _refused_ to let it come out. He continued to replay the past events over and over again in his mind, one event leading to another.

/

_Colin sat in his high school's auditorium alongside the rest of the students, watching with disgust at the events that were taking place before him_

_It was the last day before winter break, and the high school was having the largest assembly of the year, the Principal, Mr. Lancer and his brainwashed followers hell-bent on celebrating the school's "greatness"._

_Lancer was up on the stage, ranting on and on about the school's supposed "glorious history", how it crushed every other facility in the state, and how the Football team was supposed to be the "outcome of the decades of hard work and triumph", how they were supposed to be the best of the best, and that everyone should treat them with utmost admiration and respect._

_Colin simply smirked at the speech, resisting the urge to laugh out at the worthless idiots that surrounded him._

_And at the center of the assembly was the Captain and running back of the Football team, Derrick Anderson, who smirked wider and wider as Mr. Lancer continued to go on how he "kept the school standing", and how it would be nothing without him and the team._

_The players, the cheerleaders, the staff, and everyone else were completely caught off guard by the lone voice that spoke out._

_"Bullshit." Colin said loudly, causing the room to fall silent._

_Lancer's face immediately turned blood red in anger as he turned toward the crowd._

_"Who said that?" He asked, voice dangerously calm._

_No response._

_"WHO THE FUCK SAID THAT?!" He shouted at the top of his lungs, causing all but one student to flinch._

_Without any hesitation, Colin stood up and began walking toward the stage, his signature smirk plastered on his face._

_"Maxis…" Lancer muttered under his breath, saying the name like one would say the name of a serial killer._

_Colin's position in the student hierarchy was…interesting, to say the least; To be blunt, every single jock in the school would love nothing more than to tear his guts out and dump him in a hole. They hated him for many reasons, but one was more prominent than the others: The guy outclassed them in ever single way, including intelligence, speaking ability, actual skill, and the ability to seemingly always succeed. _

_You see, throughout his life, Colin had always come out on top, never failing no matter the odds, by some sort of dumb luck that always enabled him to turn the situation to his favor, usually unintentionally. All he had known in life was a string of victory._

_"It makes me disappointed to see what the world has come to theses days." Colin said, continuing to walk toward the stage._

_"Shut your mouth, you bastard!" Derrick shouted, eliciting gasps from the crowd._

_"Here's a prime example of what I'm talking about." Colin replied calmly, shaking his head as he walked up onto the stage. "You see, it's worthless, unintelligent pieces of shit like you who get everything they want, but deserve nothing. Idiots like all of you are getting paid millions and are treated like royalty, by doing what?" Colin asked, pointing at the sports teams, "By throwing around a piece of inflated leather, while people who have actually accomplished things in their life, who have worked for the human condition, and fought to defend their countries are pushed aside in favor of these worthless piles of shit who actually think they're special, and deserve nothing. At all. You, deserve nothing at all. You, are all pathetic, worthless, idiotic pieces of trash that will never contribute to anything on this planet, and who only hold back the ones that the world would actually give more than two shits about. Auf Wiedersehen."_

_Colin turned around and walked toward the exit, bringing his two best friends, Jackson and Robert with him, who were as appalled by Colin's speech as the rest of the school._

_"Dude, what the FUCK was that?!" Robert shouted as they followed Colin out of the building._

_"Speaking the truth." Colin replied bluntly, still smirking._

_"Well, you just pretty much got yourself expelled there!" Jack said angrily._

_"I'm quite certain my point will come across." Colin said. _

_The trio walked in silence through town, seeing no point in saying anything more._

_Five minutes later, they reached an alley that would cut the length of their trip in half, and entered. _

_Jack was about to ask Colin something, but was interrupted by a familiar voice from behind him._

_"Well what do we have here?" _

_The trio spun around only to be greeted with the sight of Derrick and two of his mentally deficient lackeys._

_"Three superior beings, in case you weren't self-aware enough to notice." Colin retorted, looking bored._

_Derrick's expression hardened, getting more and more pissed off._

_"Shut up, or I will SHOVE A PIPE UP YOUR ASS!" Derrick shouted, murder in his eyes._

_"Bow-chicka-bow-wow." Jack muttered with a grin._

_Letting out an angry growl, Derrick pulled his fist back and slammed it into the side of Jack's head, causing his eyes to dull for a second and for him to crash into the wall._

_"Why the hell are you doing this?!" Robert asked, getting into a fighting stance._

_"It's because…THAT FUCKING PSYCHOPATH HUMILIATED ME IN FRONT OF THE WHOLE SCHOOL!" Derrick shouted, veins bulging. "And now…he's gonna pay with his corpse."_

_Derrick's lackeys each put on a pair of brass knuckles, and stepped forward, getting into pathetic fighting stances, backs stiff and fists held high._

_"Sic 'em" _

_Before any of them could react, the two brutes had leaped forward, attempting to punch Robert and Jack in the skulls._

_Before his fist connected, Robert neatly dodged to the side and delivered an ax kick to the brute's head, causing him to instantly recoil in pain and fall backwards._

_But before he could assist his friends, the other lackey grabbed his neck and slammed his fist into his back repeatedly, eliciting cries of pain from Robert as the brute continued to kick him as he was down._

_As he neared unconsciousness, the lackey screamed in pain. Robert looked up to see Colin drive a nail into the lackey's arm, ducking as he swung his fist._

_Jack fared no better; The brute he fought had already punched him several times in the ribcage, and had barely grazed his head._

_As he helped Robert, Colin felt something grab his neck. He quickly turned to see Derrick, a snarl on his face and his fist cocked back._

_Derrick released his fist, letting it fly full force into Colin's temple._

_His vision flashed red as he fell to the ground._

_Derrick walked over to Colin's collapsed form and grabbed his shirt, pulling him up._

_"Listen you son of a bitch," Derrick growed, "I am about to fucking kill you guys. First you, and then your PATHETIC FRIENDS!" Derrick then proceeded to punch Colin in the face, over and over again._

_Colin's face was now bruised and bleeding, and his friends were off just as bad._

_Colin slowly turned his head to see Robert and Jack being brutally beaten by Derrick's lackeys, and suddenly, something disappeared._

_All the hate, all the frustration, all the fear that was going through the boy's mind had suddenly disappeared, and then, he heard it._

_**"Slaughter them, ALL"**_

_Derrick watched as Colin's pupils dilated, as a terrifying, and purely psychotic grin began spreading on his face._

_Colin slowly reached for something, and a scraping metal sound filled the air._

_Derrick's heart stopped cold as he saw what it was._

_A knife._

_A BIG knife._

_Before Derrick could even think, Colin raked the knife across his chest, leaving a gigantic gash that instantly sprayed blood all over Colin's black aviator jacket, drove the knife through his right arm, and gave it a sharp jerk._

_Having stopped screaming, Derrick looked down in horror to see that the limb had been completely severed._

_Colin quickly slammed the knife's handle into Derrick's head, knocking him on the ground, and then proceeded to stomp his face with one of his combat-boot clad feet over and over again._

_When his work was done, Derrick's face had been literally reduced to a bloody pulp._

_Derrick's lackeys were too stupid and too preoccupied with beating Robert and Jack to notice the blood covered teenager sneaking up behind them._

_"Surprise." Colin said as he drove the knife through lackey #1's spine, severing his spinal cord, and buried it up to it's hilt in the brute's shoulder. He then proceeded to stab lackey #2 in the stomach, tearing it open and shattering his sternum in the end._

_The screams were so loud that it was a miracle no one had come to stop the slaughter._

_Colin looked at his handiwork: Blood splattered all over the alley, staining the snow red, several limbs, and even a few organs._

_Suddenly, Colin's eyes widened as he saw the scene and looked at his bloodstained clothes._

_Still holding the now crimson kukri, he turned around and ran._

_/_

It was over. All over.

Eventually, the authorities would find the scene, and Colin would be accused of violent assault, or if he had overdone it back there, murder.

Colin almost cringed. _Murder_. That wasn't a word he would associate with himself. While he was a sarcastic, egomaniacal, cynical, sociopathic asshole, he never thought he would ever be forced to go that far.

Ever since he was five years old, Colin had aspired to help the world through the advancement of his race, and the improvement of the human condition.

That was never going to happen now.

And he couldn't bear to imagine what would happen when his parents found out, but fortunately they weren't home.

And what would his friends think of him now?

He had know Robert and Jack ever since was seven years old.

Jack had an easygoing personality while at the same time having the dirtiest mind in the world, and at times being both immature and slightly perverted, making innuendos at a moment's notice.

Robert had the stereotypical American personality, was extremely athletic, competitive, had severe anger management issues, and got particularly pissed whenever anyone mentioned his height of five foot six inches. They had nicknamed him "Ed" in elementary school for that reason.

Colin looked at the woods and frowned.

Right now he just wanted to get as far away from here as possible.

There was a collection of paths in the forest that led to an abandoned site with strange buildings and structures, rows of fuel tanks, and even a broken down truck. However, he purposely went in a completely random direction, avoiding anything familiar.

Colin had lost track of time hiking through the labyrinth of trees, and the sun had begun to set, causing his flashlight to cast eerie shadows.

All of a sudden, the sound of a branch breaking rang out from behind him.

Colin immediately spun around, knife drawn, only to see Jack and Robert.

Jack was of average height, with medium-length brown hair, and bright green eyes.

Robert on the other hand, was several inches shorter than both of them. He had short dirty blond hair and blue eyes.

"HOLY FUCK!" Jack shouted in surprise, hands held high.

"It's you guys…" Colin sighed in relief, "I thought you were the police…or something…" He stopped, noticing how his best friends were looking at him.

In fear.

Colin sighed, and sheathed his knife. "I'm sorry you guys had to see that." He said, looking down, noticing just how much blood stained his clothes. "That…shouldn't have happened."

"No." Jack said.

"What?" Colin asked in disbelief.

"If you didn't go batshit insane back there, all of us would've been murdered in cold blood. And remember, they were trying to _kill _us, so it was self-defense."

Colin's face was blank. "So…essentially, you're saying me acting in self defense justifies butchering three people?"

"Yup."

"You know what, you're perfectly right. That _does _justify it." Colin agreed nonchalantly.

Robert on the other hand, was completely mortified.

"You're JUSTIFYING potential homicide!? WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU!?" He shouted in disbelief.

"Don't answer that." He added after a few seconds.

"Alright then, so we head back and tell the police what happened?…After altering a couple of details of course." Colin asked as if he were talking about the weather.

"Sure thing!" Jack replied cheerfully, "But which way is the way back?"

Colin's face immediately fell.

"You know what…I fuckin' hate you."

"You could use your phone's GPS." Robert suggested.

Colin pulled his I-Phone out of his pocket and attempted to turn it on, only to be met with a black screen.

"Damn. Out of power." He muttered, putting it away.

"Same here!" Robert half-shouted, "It had half-power a few minutes ago!"

"And yours Jack?" Colin asked.

"No power at all." Jack replied.

"So what now?" Robert asked.

Colin thought for a moment.

"We could always use the setting sun to determine what direction we're going in. But because I don't know which direction I went when I got here, same with you two, we won't be able to find the exact way back." Colin explained, looking around for anything that could prove as useful.

Deciding to find out just how late it was, Colin looked at his black calculator watch, only to see the screen blank.

"My watch isn't working either." He said, eliciting confused looks from his friends.

"Do you think something's messing with our electronics?" Robert asked.

"Not likely…but possible." Colin replied slowly.

"Wait…what the hell is _that?_" Jack asked, eyes wide.

Robert and Colin spun around to see what could be described as a blinding light roughly the size of a door.

Colin couldn't process where the light was coming from. There was no source the light could be coming from, not here nor from a distance. He slowly began shuffling toward the light, one hand reaching out, the other shielding his eyes. Surprisingly, there was no heat radiating off of the light.

"What the hell are you doing Colin?!" Jack shouted, breaking him from his trance.

But before he could react, the light spread and engulfed his forearm. Colin immediately tried to withdraw his arm, but it wouldn't budge. His arm was _stuck _inside the light.

"MY ARM'S STUCK!" Colin shouted, wide eyed while desperately trying to get his arm out.

Jack and Robert ran over to help him, but as soon as they neared, the light expanded again, trapping all three of them.

"Oh FUCK YOU UNIVERSE!" Robert shouted, desperately trying to free himself.

The light continued to grow, and slowly ate more and more of their bodies, until it consumed them completely.

The only thing Colin could could see was blinding white, all around him. Suddenly, his whole body was assaulted with pain.

He attempted to block out whatever was damaging him, but some invisible force kept him from moving at all.

It felt as if his body was slowly being ripped apart, atom by atom, and then smashed together, every second the pain becoming even more excruciating. By now, he should have passed out from the agony, but it was almost as if he was being injected with a steady stream of adrenalin. He tried to look at what was happening, but the light was too bright to see anything.

The blinding light began to slowly fade. Colin's vision suddenly went black as he was forced into unconsciousness.

/

Everything began to slowly come back to Colin. He felt something soft under him, like grass...

Wait…_grass? _

He wondered how this was possible when it was winter, and snow covered the ground. He slowly opened his eyes, and almost passed out again.

Nothing looked right. Even thought it was still night, everything he could see was extremely bright and colorful. How exactly could he describe what he was seeing?

Animated.

The word that described this place perfectly, was animated.

Looking around, he came to the conclusion that he was in a completely different location than before he and his friends were engulfed by the light.

_Am I dreaming? _He thought, observing further. He considered the possibility; He felt none of his former injures, but this just seemed to _real._

Colin tried to stand up, but his hands didn't seem to be working, and he fell back on the ground.

"What the…?" He said as he looked at his hands.

Instead of hands, Colin had two stumpy appendages.

"_HOOVES!?" _ He almost shouted, genuinely horrified at what he was seeing. This wasn't right. His mind began to race, but the rational part of his mind took over and ordered him to remain calm.

Wanting to know where he was, Colin lifted his head and took a look around. The full moon was illuminating the entire area he was in, allowing to see his surroundings. The sky was a beautiful shade of purple, with wispy clouds covering some of the abundant, shiny stars.

Looking to his left, Colin spotted a small pond a couple of meters away.

Deciding to see exactly what he was, and remembering that he had hooves, Colin slowly attempted to stand up on four legs. Once he had done so, he started walking forward one step at a time. He was surprised at how _easy _it was, and quickened his pace.

Colin looked into the water, and was greeted by a sight that was instantly seared into his brain. He was a horse. Pitch black coat, shaggy black mane, long, spiky black tail, and gold eyes that possessed a strange metallic sheen. One thing that really got his attention though, was the mark on his flank: A white seven-spoked gear that had an arm composed of two lighting bolts similar to the Waffen SS runes, and a hand clutching a split circle with the number "115" on the top, and "935" on the bottom, in front of the gear, orbiting electrons surrounding the hand.

Colin thought he would jump back in surprise, or shout something vulgar in surprise, but instead he froze, holding his breath, eyes never leaving his reflection's.

After a thirty second staring contest, he sighed, pulling himself together and stopping himself from going on an angry rant; He needed to stay calm.

_I am not insane. I am not insane. I am not insane. I am not insane. I am not insane. _He repeated over and over again in his head like a mantra.

_"NIPPLE SCROTUMS!" _

Colin must have jumped five feet up in the air when the ground shaking voice suddenly rang out from the foliage to his left.

_ROBERT?! _Colin thought. No other person in the universe could project their voice like that…or use a phrase like that.

Colin quickly walked over to the foliage, and saw what had made the noise.

It was another horse.

Instead of black fur though, this one's coat was a dark green, much like camouflage, with a short, blond mane and tail, blue eyes, and had a katana and shotgun crossed over a white star on his flank.

Most of all though, it was incredibly pissed off.

The horse proceeded to go on a long rant of curses so vulgar and horrific that if were printed, those who did it would be sentenced to a slow and painful death.

"SHUT UP!" Colin shouted at the horse, slapping it with his hoof.

"SONNAVABITCH, THAT _HURT_!" The horse cried as it clutched the part where Colin had hit it.

"Robert, I said shut up!" Colin said irately.

"Yeah well buck you-" The green horse started, but stopped mid sentence, "Wait, _COLIN?! _Is that you?"

"Yes, I think that was fairly obvious." Colin replied with an annoyed groan, "But wait…why did you say _buck?"_

Robert paused for a moment.

"I have no idea…You think it's because we're horses or something?" Robert asked.

"Most likely the 'or something' option." Colin muttered, "But what I really want to know is-"

"HOLY BALLS, WHAT HAPPENED TO MY PANTS!?" A familiar voice interrupted.

The two horses turned to see yet another horse, this one with a white coat, crimson eyes, a red and white mane and tail, and had the mark of a half light, half fire pillar. One thing that stood out though, was the white horn on its head.

_I think it's pretty obvious who that is…Only one way to find out for sure though… _Colin muttered in his head.

"Hey, where did you get that horn?" He shouted out reluctantly.

The unicorn's response was immediate.

"BOW-CHICKA-BOW-wait, since when did I have _this?" _Jack asked, interrupting himself, looking up at the growth on his head.

"Jack, shut up or I will pour kerosene down your throat and drop a lit match in it." Colin said darkly, causing Jack to acknowledge his and Robert's presence.

"And besides, why _do _you have a horn? You compensating for something?" Robert joked.

"Har har." Jack muttered sarcastically, "What I wanna know is why Jeff the Killer here got wings!"

Colin immediately looked down at his side. True to Jack's word, he had two black, feathered wings.

He frowned.

"Well fan-bucking-tastic." He said angrily, "I get a pair of wings, but judging from their size and shape compared to my current form, they're completely useless."

"C'mon, this is cartoon world!" Jack assured, "_Anything's _possible!"

"Such as you coming back from the dead after I kill you repeatedly?" Colin asked with a sadistic grin.

"Look on the bright side!" Robert interrupted, "I have giant hooves to hit things with, Jack has a horn to stab things, and Colin can use his wings to kamikaze dive our enemies! It's the perfect-"

"What's that over there?" Colin interrupted.

Robert and Jack turned toward where he was pointing, and saw something they didn't expect.

There was a lit-up city protruding off the side of a mountain that seemed to be several kilometers away.

"Civilization…" Jack breathed, "We're SAVED!"

"How long do you think it'll take us to get there on foot-I mean hoof?" Robert asked.

Colin quickly did the math.

"I'd say at a fast walking pace…approximately four hours." He said.

"Fair enough." Robert said, "Let's get going."

And with that, they set off towards civilization.

/

The trio had been walking through the woods for what seemed like days, but in reality had most likely been a few hours. The path they had settled on had too many twists and turns for them to be sure they were going in the right direction, and the thick canopy prevented them from seeing the lights of the city.

"Something isn't right." Colin said, breaking the silence.

Robert rolled his eyes. "You mean besides the fact that we're horses in a cartoon world?"

"No, look at the sky." He said, "It hasn't changed at all, and I get the feeling the sun should have already risen."

True to his word, the sky was exactly the same as it had been several hours ago.

The trio was cut off from there thoughts when they heard screaming and a roar shatter the perfect silence of the forest. It seemed to be far away, but not far away enough that they couldn't investigate.

"Holy shit!" Jack whispered as he, Colin, and Robert, got down, out of the line of sight of any creature that could be stalking them.

"What do we do?" Robert whispered.

"Judging by their sound, those screams were definitely human." Colin replied, "And because the roaring stopped, it's safe to assume whatever made that roar is gone. We find those people, and get help."

"Agreed." Robert and Jack said with a nod.

After fifteen minutes of straight running, the trio needed to rest. They hadn't heard a single sound since the screaming, and were beginning to doubt if they were going in the right direction. For all they knew, they went in the opposite direction.

"I don't like this." Colin muttered, tired, "I get the feeling that we're just throwing ourselves deeper and deeper into this damn forest."

"We should've just kept going toward that city…" Robert groaned, equally fatigued.

"Since there isn't any visible path, it would be pointless to try and go back. We just have to keep going." Jack said with determination.

As they took their first few steps forward, it was suddenly pitch black.

"What the hay is going on?!"

"I can't see my hoof in front of my face!"

"Ow, that was my wing you asshole!"

They silenced when another shriek rang out.

Turning his head to the direction the scream came from, Colin saw a dim pink light illuminating a section of the forest ahed of him and the others.

"C'mon." He whispered as he walked toward the light, Robert and Jack following.

As they closed the distance to the illuminated area, he heard something. Something a lot like…_Singing?! _Yup, that was definitely singing. The trio quickened their pace as they adjusted to the darkness. as they got closer they noticed that the singing had stopped, replaced by laughter.

After five minutes or so they finally arrived at the clearing where the people had been, surprised that it was lit up again.

"Shit. We missed them." Robert cursed.

Looking for anything that might help indicate the direction the people went, Colin noticed several trails of circular marks.

_Hoof _marks.

"Guys, I've got good news and bad news." Colin said, getting Jack and Robert's attention.

"What is it?" Robert asked.

"The good news is that I picked up a trail. The bad news is that the 'people' are actually horses, just like us." Colin replied, eliciting groans from his friends.

"Oh COME ON!" Robert shouted.

"It's our only lead, so we might as well follow it." Jack pointed out.

"He's right." Colin agreed, "If we quit now, the only thing left to do would be to aimlessly wander this potentially dangerous forest with no supplies whatsoever."

And with that, they continued down the trail.

/

The last thirty minutes had been rather mundane, save for a small river they had used a log to walk over.

The trio came to a flimsy rope bridge crossing over a large expanse. On the other side was some kind of temple, made of stone and overgrown with vegetation.

"This bridge looks like it was put back in place recently." Colin observed, approaching said bridge.

"So they must've come across here…" Robert muttered, "But why? Why would anyone go to a ruin like this?"

"No idea, but this place gives me the creeps." Jack said, walking over the bridge.

"Seems stable enough." Robert remarked, also walking over.

Deciding not to waste any time, Colin stepped onto the bridge. The entire thing groaned as he slowly stepped from one plank to the next. Increasing his pace so he would be across before the bridge collapsed under his weight, he closed the distance to the end of the bridge. Just as he was a few planks away, the board he stepped on suddenly gave way. Without thinking, his black wings snapped open and flapped powerfully, propelling him to the other side.

"Looks like these aren't so useless after all!" Colin said with a grin, he and the others making their way towards the temple.

As the trio neared the structure, they could clearly see a small group of equines, obviously female, standing in front of the main building.

_We finally found them…_ Colin thought.

Taking a look at the group, he observed that two of them had wings like him, one had a horn like Jack, and another two had neither, much like Robert.

Before any of them could say anything, a dark purple light lit up the main structure, dissipating after a few seconds.

"Twilight?" The girls shouted in unison, before running into the building.

"She's gone!" Another voice said.

"What could have made that light?" Colin asked, "They obviously don't have any equipment, and I doubt that there's an electrical system in that structure…"

"Might as well check it out." Robert said.

"That's what she said!" Jack added with a grin.

Sneaking up the main stairs into the temple, they came to the main chamber of the structure where the three former humans saw a giant horse, with a flowing black mane, both wings and a horn, and a set of cobalt armor standing on a pedestal. On the opposite side of the room was a purple horse with a horn, who seemed to be confronting the larger equine.

The trio ducked behind a fallen pillar to stay hidden. They watched as the small horse, who they assumed was "Twilight" get into an aggressive stance, looking ready to charge.

"You're kidding." The larger mare laughed. "You're kidding, right?" She said seriously, realizing it wasn't a joke.

Twilight started charging at the dark mare with the tip of her horn glowing with a purple aura.

"Well, she's dead." Colin said flatly.

Just as soon as the two equines were about to make contact, Twilight disappeared in a flash of light and reappeared on the pedestal the large horse had been on moments before.

"Just one spark, come on, come on!" Twilight grunted, concentrating.

Skidding to a halt, the larger horse spun around and saw her enemy pointing her horn at the five stones on the pedestal.

"No!" She shouted as she started charging at Twilight.

"Do you think we should help her?" Robert asked.

"Why would we do that? She's clearly going to get skewered." Colin replied.

"Her friends might give us money." Jack pointed out.

Colin paused.

"Alright guys, here's the plan…"

Colin quickly explained his plan of action.

"That's a terrible plan." Jack deadpanned.

"You got a better idea?" Colin replied with a deadpan of his own.

"…Alright, but we better get paid for this…"

Just as the dark horse was upon Twilight, Jack galloped forward to intercept the collision course.

_I'd better be paid dearly for this…bow-chicka-bow-wow… _Was the last thing he thought before colliding with the large horse.

It HURT. It felt like he had just collided with a steel wall.

Staggering back, Jack grinned when he saw that his pain had been worth it; He watched Robert throw Colin using the enhanced strength that had come with his new body at the horse, the former human's wings spread, and a sadistic grin on his face.

"Death from above, BITCH!" Colin shouted seconds before slamming into the horse and making her crash face-first into a pillar, the force of the impact breaking it.

Groaning in pain, the large horse slowly dragged herself back on her hooves, seething with anger.

"Who are you, you foal that dares attack Night Mare Moon!" She shouted.

"What are you even trying to accomplish?" Colin asked, confused by the villain's lack of a motive.

"I will rule over the world and make it forever night!" Night Mare proclaimed triumphantly.

"So you're attacking everyone here?" He asked.

"Yes!" Night Mare replied.

"You're a dickhead!" Colin exclaimed.

"What?!" Night Mare asked angrily.

"You are such a dickhead! I mean, who even _does_ that?! C'mon!"

A dark aura began surrounding Night Mare's horn as she pointed it at Colin, getting angrier and angrier.

However, her focus was wrenched away when when the six stones started sparking intensely, flinging Twilight away. Jack ran over to her.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"Who are you?" She asked, confused by the sudden arrivals.

Her focus suddenly snapped back to the six stones.

"The elements! Look!" She looked over at the sparking stones. However, they suddenly stopped sparking. Twilight looked on in horror.

Then it dawned on her, that there had only been five elements. "But… Where's the sixth element?" She asked, confused.

Night Mare Moon laughed manically, raising her front hooves and bringing them down with a crash, shattering the stones on the pedestal. "You little foal! Thinking you could defeat me? Now you will never see your princess, or your sun! The night will last forever!"

Twilight watched, horrified as the shards of the stones landed around Night Mare Moon.

"Don't worry Twilight!" A voice called from the entrance.

"Were here!"Another called.

Twilight looked back, she could hear all of them calling out to her…and that made her…happy. Then all at once, it made complete sense.

"You think you can destroy the Elements of Harmony just like that?" Twilight said, very confident all of a sudden. "Well you're wrong!" She said standing up tall. "Because the spirits of the Elements of Harmony are _right here_!" She shouted as the five other equines lined up beside her. The shards of the Elements of Harmony started to float in the air.

"What?" NightMare Moon said, panic in her voice.

"Applejack, who reassured me when I was in doubt, represents the spirit of…_honesty_!" Twilight said as several shards of the stone flew over to her and began orbiting her.

"Fluttershy, who tamed the manticore with her compassion represents the spirit of…_kindness_!" A surprised Fluttershy was bestowed her own collection of shards orbiting her, just like Applejack.

"Pinkie Pie, who banished fear by giggling in the face of danger represents the spirit of…_laughter_!" Jumping up and down, the pony in question was thrilled to see shards spinning around her as well.

"Rarity, who calmed a sorrowful serpent with a meaningful gift represents the spirit of…_generosity_"! The snowy-white unicorn nodded modestly as the shards began circling around her.

"Rainbow Dash, who could not abandon her friends for her own hearts desires represents the spirit of…_loyalty_!" The rainbow-maned pegasus stuck out her chest proudly as the shards began to orbit her, the same as her friends.

"The spirits of these five ponies got us through everything you threw at us!" Twilight announced proudly.

"You don't have the sixth element! The spark didn't work!" Nightmare retorted, her voice panic-stricken.

"But it did!" Twilight countered. "A different kind of spark! I felt it the very moment I realized how happy I was to hear you, see you, how much I cared about you!" She said as her eyes began to fill with tears. "The spark ignited inside me when I realized that you all…are my friends!" She said to the five ponies behind her, paying no attention to the trio.

"What the buck is she talking about?" Colin asked.

"You see, NightMare Moon, when those elements are ignited by the…uh…spark! That resides in the hearts of us all, it creates the sixth element: the element of…_magic_!"

All at once, the shards came together to form necklaces, each with its own distinctive gem in the middle:

The Yellow pony with the pink mane had a necklace with a pink butterfly jewel in it.

The Pink pony got a blue balloon shaped jewel in her necklace.

The Rainbow pony got a red lightning bolt in the center of hers.

The Orange pony with the blonde mane got an orange apple jewel in the center of hers.

And the white pony with the purple colored hair got a purple gem in the shape of a diamond.

Finally, the stone hovering over Twilight morphed into a crown with a purple six-pointed star almost identical to the one on her flank. Closing her eyes, the six ponies rose into the air, surrounding Night Mare and radiating a white light. Then she opened her eyes to reveal a glowing abyss in each socket. The three former humans watched as they fired a gigantic rainbow beam at the dark equine. The blast was so intense that they were blown back slightly. All seemed well, but as the smoke cleared, the nine ponies saw the horrifying truth: nothing had happened at all.

"W-what?!" Twilight stammered in disbelief, "How is this possible? The Elements were supposed to stop NightMare Moon! Just like in the prophecy!"

Night Mare, who herself seemed confused, but then quickly adopted a smug look. "You foals, this was all part of my plan! I told you the spark did not work! If you had listened, you would have had the privilege of being my slaves for eternity! HAHAHAHAH!"

Her laugh was interrupted when her eyes combusted in a fiery explosion.

"BY CELESTIA, _MY EYES!"_ Night Mare screamed in agony, clutching her decimated eyes as a strange purple aura caused them to slowly regenerate,

Twilight turned quickly to see Jack, who's horn was glowing with a blinding crimson aura, his eyes glowing, and light radiating from his body.

"How _dare you!" _Night Mare snarled in rage once her eyes had regenerated. "I'll kill-" She was interrupted as her whole body exploded and caught fire, eliciting even more screams from her burning and regenerating body

_**"How absolutely pathetic." **_A deep, raspy, metallic voice echoed throughout the room, seemingly coming from everywhere. "_**Harmony is such a futile and useless thing. Why even think that something so redundant could be even remotely useful? **_It asked.

"Wh-what are you talking about?" Twilight asked, horrified anything would think like that, "Without harmony, we would be nothing!"

_**"I would assume the reason for your naive and ignorant mindset would be the fact that Celestia refused to show any of your kind reality?" **_The voice asked.

"No!" Twilight shouted, now furious at the voice's insulting of the Princess, "That isn't true!"

_**"…I suppose the only solution would be a demonstration." **_The voice said, sounding disappointed, _**"Jackson, would you care to begin?"**_

As soon as the voice finished it's sentence, Jack changed.

The only way to describe the unicorn's transformation would be to say that he had become pure heat and light.

Jack's fiery form was engulfed in an impossibly hot pillar of flame and light, and his eyes were essentially yellow floodlights. The only part of him that hadn't been reduced to energy was a gold medallion around his neck that had some sort of shining pillar engraved on it.

_**"Jackson, who keeps the beacon of hope shining and gives life the drive to move on, is Hope."**_

Jack immediately turned towards Night Mare, his energized horn glowing pure light. A red spark crossed between him and Night Mare in the blink of an eye, and once it made contact with the dark mare, caused her to combust in flame again, this explosion infinitely more powerful than the other two, the former human sending explosion after explosion at her, essentially burning her to death over and over again.

Suddenly, Jack stopped and stepped back, giving Night Mare time to fully regenerate.

_**"Robert, who makes sure a being's inner nature is always present and that only the strongest survive, is Rage."**_

The ground below Robert instantly fissured and quaked in every direction, the stone and metal rising out of the ground and forming an armored shell around him, leaving only his eyes uncovered, which had been reduced to pits of infinite fire. He had a medallion with a flame engraved in it.

Robert slammed his hoof on the ground, causing dozens of stone spikes, projectiles, and limbs to burst from the ground, impaling, blasting, crushing, and tearing Night Mare's ravaged form, blood spraying everywhere.

The six ponies had now turned in the other direction, not wanting to witness the brutal carnage.

Just like Jack, Robert suddenly stopped.

_**"Colin, who is the end to any and all, brings doom and defiles light, and makes life cease to carry on, is Death."**_

Gigantic arcs of black electricity blasted their way out of Colin, enveloping his form. When it completely enveloped him, the back lighting dissipated, leaving him with no resemblance of his previous form.

To start it off, his whole body was encased in an extremely advanced looking suit of black and silver exoskeleton that radiated death, the black visored helmet obscuring his face. That was nothing compared to the other additions.

To put it simply, he was a living weapon.

There were weapons absolutely _everywhere_, all over him and the armor; His front legs had been transformed into two gigantic black and silver cylindrical cannons, there were two giant futuristic rail guns mounted on his back, with various turrets, cannons, miniguns, missile launchers, and firearms integrated into the armor, all of them matching the suit, and all modified to deal even more death. The only part of him that wasn't a weapon or made of metal was medallion with a human skull engraved in it.

_**"I would recommend it that you three use your element at the same time." **_The voice said.

The trio immediately lined up in front of Night Mare, much like a firing squad.

_**"Elements of Harmony, if Night Mare is to be purged and not completely eradicated, then you must also assist them." **_It added.

Twilight gave a determined nod as she and the other elements lined up in their formation.

"Alright, let's end this!" Twilight said with determination, repeating the "Harmony Protocol".

The Reality Elements simply nodded.

_**"Three" **_

_**"Two"**_

_**"**_**One"**

"_**Kaboom.**_" Colin said, his voice demonic and distorted beyond recognition.

The Elements of Harmony once again fired their multicolored beam.

Jack sent a gargantuan inferno at Night Mare.

Robert made countless stone missiles and spikes go streaking at his target.

Colin unloaded his deathly arsenal at Night Mare.

As soon as they unleashed their power, the trio blacked out.

**Please leave constructive criticism, rate, comment and review.**

**This is ZeroKnight115, over and out.**


	2. First (Real) Contact

Chapter 2: First (Real) Contact

"How are they?" A voice asked.

Colin stirred for a moment, listening to the conversation.

"They'll be fine." A soothing voice replied, "They are just exhausted from the fight with Luna."

_Luna?_ Colin thought, _What's that supposed to mean?_

His first guess was that 'Luna' was another name for Night Mare Moon, but the way the second voice said it lead him to believe that she was still alive. He knew it wasn't true, because he had launched a whole arsenal of ballistic weaponry directly at her. Common sense dictated that she couldn't have survived that.

"Thank goodness!" The first voice (Who he identified as 'Twilight') said, sounding relieved.

"But…as for the display they made last night, that is a mystery to me. Only they can help us." The second voice said with slight confusion.

"And all three of them are really weird." Twilight said, "I have no idea what their marks are supposed to mean, their mental scans are unlike any I've ever seen, and the pegasus is just…messed up!"

_Messed up?! What's THAT supposed to mean?!. _Colin thought, slightly angry.

"Is he alright?" The second voice asked, obviously referring to him.

"No." Twilight deadpanned, "He has sadistic and sociopathic tendencies, severe moral problems, an overinflated ego, a complete disregard for the lives of others, is extremely irate, and has a tendency towards sarcasm."

_Damn, it's my last psych evaluation all over again…_

"I meant physically." The second voice said.

"Oh…well, besides signs of severe fatigue, he's fine." Twilight replied.

"Very well my student. Please bring them to me when they wake up. I'd like to have a word with them myself."

As he heard footsteps move away, Colin was slowly pulled back into oblivion.

/

Colin's eyes snapped open.

Noticing that he was still in the cartoon world, he groaned inwardly; He wanted an explanation for all the shit that was going on.

Looking around, he saw that he was in some kind of room made completely out of wood. There were bookshelves lining the walls, leading him to the conclusion that he was in some kind of library, which was actually pretty convenient; He could get some intelligence. The clock on the wall read '2:37'.

Colin was slightly relieved to see the sunlight shining through the window; it had felt like ages since he last saw light.

Colin's observations were cut short when he heard someone muttering. He looked over the edge of the bed and saw Twilight on the floor, fast asleep. Remembering parts of the conversation, she had said something about her staying to wait for him to wake up.

He took the opportunity to properly examine her. She was a purple unicorn, with a dark purple mane and tail. However she had two streaks of different purple, one indigo, and the other more akin to magenta. All and all, she was purple.

However, next to her tail on her side was some kind of mark; A magenta star with several smaller white stars around it.

Recalling his, Jack's, and Robert's marks, Colin came to the conclusion that all of the horses had some kind of unique mark on their flank.

Wondering what the marks were supposed to mean, Colin sat down on the floor and pondered the question for a minute or two.

Deciding to drop the subject, Colin turned around to see Twilight awake, staring at something. He followed her gaze and frowned.

"Uh…Care to tell me why you're staring at my ass?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

Twilight seemed to jump out of her skin.

"What? No! Nononononono!" Twilight stammered blushing, "I was just examining you cutie mark!"

"My what?" Colin asked, confused.

He looked down and saw the peculiar mark on his flank, and understood what she meant.

"Oh, this thing!" He said, chuckling at the misunderstanding.

"Do you not know what that is?" Twilight asked.

"Are you actually considering the option that I _do _what it is?" He asked in his usual irate tone.

"You're not from around here are you?" Twilight deadpanned.

Colin simply made a 'You don't say?' face.

Twilight sighed. This guy needed a personality change.

"Anyway, I'll make sure your and your friends' questions get answered!" Twilight said smiling. "But first, I wanted to say that we wouldn't have won that battle without you! So…thanks."

"I like how you say we 'helped' when you and your friends were essentially useless, and the fact that we were the ones who killed Night Mare." Colin deadpanned, slightly annoyed.

Instead of looking angry or annoyed, Twilight's face was one of confusion and shock.

"K-k-killed?" She asked in horror, "We didn't k-kill her!"

"Well, I'll give it to her; That bastard is pretty resilient. Why didn't any of you finish her off?" Colin asked.

Twilight ignored the last part of his question, "We didn't kill her; We used the Elements of Harmony to purge her of the evil inside her!"

Now it was Colin's turn to look confused.

"The _what?_" He asked, eyebrow arched.

"Uh…well…each of my friends and I possesses a different element," Twilight explained, "I have the element of magic, Rarity has the element of generosity, Pinkie has the element of laughter, Fluttershy has the element of kindness, Rainbow Dash has the element of loyalty, and Applejack has the element of honesty. Together, the six of us are best friends and form the Elements of Harmony!"

Colin stared at her as if she had grown a second head.

"Wait…WHAT?" Colin groaned/shouted, facehoofing and looking extremely irritated, furious at the unicorn's tainting of science, "What the HECK are you talking about? Those aren't elements…those are personality traits! Elements are like Hydrogen, Helium, Lithium, Beryllium, Boron, Carbon, Nitrogen, and so forth."

"What the heck are YOU talking about?" Twilight asked in an equally annoyed tone.

"Hey, don't get mad at me!" Colin frowned, "It's not my fault you don't know the difference between elements and simple personality traits."

"I can't say for sure, but I'm guessing that where you come from, elements are natural things." Twilight said, "Here, the elements that we ponies share are the elements of harmony…and friendship. It's what makes us unique, and who we are."

"Unique? But that bullshit makes no sense whatsoever!" Colin protested, "And '_magic!'_ Everyone knows that magic is complete crap, at least where I come from."

"Even the magic of friendship?" Twilight asked, now concerned.

Colin stopped his rant suddenly and stood still, his best poker face on.

He then proceeded to roll on the floor laughing.

_"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Th-th-the 'm-magic of f-frienship!" _He got out between bouts of extreme laughter.

After ten seconds, he finally calmed down and stood back up.

"As much as I'd love to debunk your pathetic beliefs, I have to find Robert and Jack before they blow something up."

"They're downstairs." Twilight said, ignoring the first part of his statement, "Don't worry, they already have an idea of what's going on. We'll finally be able to talk with the Princess."

"That's convenient." Colin muttered.

"So…what did you say your name was again?" Twilight asked.

"Colin A. Maxis." He replied, "Just Colin will do."

Colin and Twilight walked down the stairs to the Library's lobby, where Robert and Jack stood, looking out of a window in curiosity.

"Gents! Get you heads out of your asses!" Colin shouted, getting their attention.

"I told you he wouldn't go in a coma! You owe me five dollars!" Robert declared to Jack with a smirk.

"Son of a bitch…" Jack muttered angrily.

"So, what is it?" Robert asked Colin.

"Are we getting paid?" Jack added.

"We're going to be talking with the ruler of this country. You know the drill." Colin whispered, Jack and Robert nodded

"And the money?" Robert asked.

"No idea." Colin admitted.

"Are we going or not?" Twilight asked, interrupting their conversation.

"Oh yeah, sure." Colin replied quickly.

The trio walked out of the door behind Twilight, unsure what horrors awaited them outside…

As soon as Colin stepped outside he was hit with a warming blast of sunlight and a refreshing breeze.

Looking around, Colin saw ponies everywhere. Dancing, eating, all having a good time. He hadn't gotten five feet from the Library before a pink pony zipped in front of him and the others.

"Hiya!" The pony said with an unnaturally annoying voice and bright smile. "Cake for everypony!" She shouted before shoving a piece of cake into each of their mouths.

Colin tried to yell something along the lines of 'Holy shit!', but it came out too muffled to understand. However, upon tasting the cake, he had forgotten about everything besides devouring the sweet piece of gloriousness.

"Gooood, huh?" She asked with a wide grin.

"That was the best cake ever. Of all time." Colin said once he had swallowed, eye twitching from the sugar.

"Damn straight!" Jack agreed.

"Thanks, I'm Pinkie Pie!"

Jack reached his hoof out to shake hers, "My name is JaAAaaaAAAaa!" Upon shaking her hoof, Jack was assaulted with a surge of electricity. After shocking him, Pinkie turned her hoof over to reveal a joy buzzer.

"Shocking…" Shadow muttered.

Pinkie fell over in an uncontrollable fit of laughter.

Jack's hair was sticking straight up, ash all over his white coat and smoke rising from the tip of his horn.

Just like a cartoon.

An idea struck Jack, and he shook his body back and forth, much like a drying dog would. He was clean again.

What if…they could use the Toonforce?

"As much as I'd like to derp around and stuff myself with cake, we have a world leader to talk to." Colin reminded, walking off.

"Oh! Right!" Twilight said, she and the others hurrying off to where the Princess was.

"Thanks for the cake Pinkie!" Robert called.

As Colin moved through the town he noticed something a little out of the ordinary: for every colt he saw, there were at least five mares. While this was not _that _strange, it was still notable enough to keep in his memory. But then, the unbalanced ratio brought questions in his mind. _Wouldn't the birth rate of Ponyville be pretty low if there aren't that many guys? Maybe there's a….I dunno, a heat season for the mares and they would…no! Nononono! That is definitely not the case. That's the stupidest theory I've ever come up with!_

Colin was so involved with his thoughts that he didn't notice the pony in front of him, and the two collided with each other.

"Ah, sorry about that. Wasn't looking in front of me." He apologized.

The filly looked up and her eyes widened at the sight of Colin, her pupils shrinking to pinpricks as she saw Robert and Jack.

"You okay?" Jack asked.

She backed up in what seemed fear, her breathing getting heavier and heavier.

"What's wrong?" Robert asked.

Upon seeing the speechless filly, Twilight immediately understood.

"Guys, this is Princess Luna, I believe you've all met before." She said, smiling, knowing that they would be confused.

"I've heard that name before…but I've never met her until now." Colin said, confused.

"I'd like to reintroduce you all to Night Mare Moon!" Twilight smiled.

"Oh…shiiiiit…" Jack mumbled, remembering what had happened the previous night. He just now wondered how painful it must be to have your bone marrow ignite and combust in an instant, along with your eyes and various other body parts.

This filly just looked so…harmless. And terrified beyond comprehension. They had essentially incinerated, combusted, shot, ignited, crushed, impaled, and skewered her over and over without mercy, killing her over and over again.

It would be so easy to do it one last time…

Colin shook his head. He couldn't afford to think like that.

So he lowered his head down to her head level and smiled

"What's up, Night Mare?"

Luna looked up at him with tears welling in her eyes. After a few seconds, she started to gets words out. "I… I'm so sorry…" She sniffled. "I really could have hurt everypony, *sniff* especially Twilight!" tears were openly streaming down her face at this point, "thank you so much for stopping me!" she finished, looking down at the ground.

Colin was surprised. He didn't expect the high and mighty Night Mare Moon to just…break like that.

"You don't have apologize for anything. Night Mare Moon was the one who did that, not you. You aren't her. Night Mare is dead, so you have nothing to worry about."

Luna stopped crying and beamed, she had expected his reaction to be _much_ worse, and very violent. She was overjoyed that somepony was treating her like a real pony. "Thank you…" She said quietly.

Twilight smiled as she saw this side of Colin. Maybe he wasn't that bad after all…

"Oh, and for the record, Twilight shot first." He smirked, galloping towards the place where they were supposed to meet the princess.

Scratch that, he's an asshole.

/

"Princess Celestia!"

The ponies looked up to see a large white mare, who was about the same size as Night Mare Moon, conversing with several citizens while eating cake.

"I see our guests have awakened." Celestia said to Twilight. Turning to the former humans, she gave a comforting smile that Colin refused to trust. "Thank you for what you did for my subjects. It sounded like you showed up just in time."

"With all due respect Princess, they didn't really _do _anything." Colin said, "If I remember correctly, my…associates and I were the ones who prevented Night Mare from moving on with her plans."

"Is something wrong?" Princess Celestia asked, noticing his frustration.

"Question of my life…" He muttered, "And to answer that question, yes. A _lot _of things are wrong. I doubt you'd believe us if we told you , but then again, we barely believe the story ourselves." He said tiredly.

"You three have stirred up a lot of questions. If you answer them, I will answer your questions." Celestia said soothingly.

The former humans looked around to see the small crowd that had gathered, waiting for an explanation.

"Alright…where do I start…?"

/

"And so that brings us right here!" Colin finished, slightly awkwardly, noticing his small crowd had turned into the majority of Ponyville's population, had been listening to the story of how he, Jack, and Robert used to be Humans, how they came across the light. He explained in detail their arrival in Equestria, their trek through the forest, and their battle with Night Mare Moon. During the story he had explained the differences between humans and ponies, but left out details of humanity's darker sides.

After he finished he simply said to the crowd, "Well, there you have it," And sat down along with Robert and Jack. After an awkward silence, Celestia finally spoke up,

"I believe I understand now…"

"That we're insane? Yep, I would have figured." Colin sighed.

"No, not at all." The solar princess replied, "There was something that made you stand out among my subjects, and this only confirms my suspicions."

"So, can you help us get back home?" Robert asked.

"No, I'm afraid I can't." She said sadly.

"So you're telling us we're _stuck _here?!" Colin groaned.

"I never said that." Celestia smiled.

"What then?" Jack asked.

"Your only choice is to use a trans-dimensional travel spell, and the user must know about the place that they intend to travel to." Celestia explained.

"So basically, I think of home and use the spell?" Jack asked, "Well, tell me how to do it and we'll be on our way."

"I'm afraid it won't be that easy Jackson." Celestia said, cutting his excitement short, "Performing a spell like that takes years of practice."

"_YEARS?!_" Robert asked in horror, "We'll be DEAD by then!"

"You have a better idea?" Colin asked.

Robert shook his head.

"Well, if It's going to take years, then I'm starting _now!" _Jack declared vigorously, eyes full of determination.

"Watch out, we got a badass over here!" Robert joked.

"Not as badass as me." Colin chuckled

Everyone was shocked by Jack's declaration, Including Celestia. However, her shocked expression quickly became a small smile. "And who else to teach you than my faithful student, Twilight Sparkle?" She asked.

The unicorn in question was flabbergasted. "What? ME?! But princess…You would be a _much _better teacher than me!"

"With Luna coming back to Canterlot, I'll have my hooves full with helping her integrate back into society." Celestia explained, "This way, you three can live in Ponyville and adjust to life in Equestria. Would you mind that boys?" She asked the trio.

"Negatory." Colin said, summing up their thoughts.

"Excellent!" Celestia said, "Now, you'll need places to stay while in Ponyville."

"Colin and Jack can stay in my guest rooms, and I'm sure Applejack would be fine with Robert staying at sweet apple acres." Twilight said, "You guys alright with that?"

They nodded.

"Wait, don't you think our names kinda…stand out?" Jack asked.

"That is true." Celestia replied, "I suggest that you three make new names for yourselves that aren't as exotic as your current ones."

"Alright…" Robert muttered, thinking, "How about…Blazing Streak?"

"Not bad." Jack said, "I'll be…Inferno. Yeah, Inferno!"

Colin thought for a moment, and looked at his jet black coat. "Shadow…" He then looked at his wings, "Storm." Colin grinned, "Shadow Storm…I like it."

"Alright, now that we have everything done with, let's get back to the party, shall we-" Celestia started, but was cut of when Shadow raised his hoof.

"There's something that I'd like now that I'm living here." He said.

"Oh, and what would that be?" Celestia asked curiously.

"A job in 601." He replied, "You see, since my compatriots and I saved the lives of your subjects, it's only fair that we get something in return. Inferno gets to learn magic, so Streak and I should get our end of the equivalent exchange."

"And how do you know about the group?" Celestia asked.

"Let's just say that Twilight has a lot of books that would normally be hard to find."

"And what of Streak?" She asked.

Shadow shrugged, "It's up to him what he gets as his end of the exchange."

Celestia smiled and pulled out a stack of filled out forms, which disappeared. A few seconds later, a piece of paper and an oddly familiar-looking badge appeared in a similar flash of light.

"I'm sure you'll be useful." She said as she handed him the items.

"Let the party resume!" Celestia announced. The crowd cheered and went back to what they were doing.

Wandering off, Inferno noticed Twilight, who had sunk into an ally way between two small cottages.

"Hey Twilight, is something wrong?" He asked, walking towards her.

"I…I don't know if I'm going to be able to teach you magic…" She said, looking at the ground, "What if I can't do it?"

"Are you bucking kidding me? Inferno said, walking next to her, "You charged head-on into Night Mare Moon! Shadow, Streak, and me had to resort to cheap tactics, but you just went in first thing! Then, you gathered those element thingies, and…helped us beat her." He continued, "The point is that you're the most capable pony I know."

He could imagine Shadow's reaction; _"Wait, isn't she pretty much the _only_ pony you know?"_

"You really think so?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah, of course!"

"Thank you Inferno, I needed that." She said, smiling

"Now, TO THE CAKE!"

/

Hours had passed since Shadow explained his and the other former humans' situation, and since then, they had been eating cake, socializing, and getting used to Ponyville.

The sky had been darker when Princess Celestia stood up and used her magic to lightly bang a spoon on her teacup.

All the ponies turned and gave her their attention.

"Mares and gentlecolts, if I could please have your attention" Princess Celestia said with just enough volume to make sure everypony heard her. Once the last of the talking died inside the crowd, she continued. "In honor of the 1000th annual summer sun celebration, and the return of my sister, Princess Luna, I would like to invite her to come and raise the moon, and usher in the night, for the first time in a thousand years."

Everypony's eyes were on Luna, who hadn't expected this.

"R-really sister?" Luna asked timidly.

Celestia smiled, "Of course. Nothing would make me happier."

"Thank you, sister." Luna smiled, holding back tears.

As Luna moved forward , the crowd backed away, leaving her plenty of room to raise the moon.

"Raising the moon? What the hay is that supposed to mean? Everypony knows the moon orbits the earth…" Shadow said to nobody in particular.

Luna bowed her head in front of the crowd, and her horn started to glow. Then, giving her wings a few powerful flaps, she lifted herself into the air. Raising her head up, she looked up into the sky as the glow around her horn brightened. Everypony watched on in awe as the moon rose from the horizon, moving directly behind Luna. Encompassing her in its light, all anypony could see of her was a silhouette, in front of the large moon behind her.

The crowd cheered as Luna landed back on the ground. She looked at the cheering ponies again and smiled.

Suddenly, the cheering was silenced by an all too familiar voice.

"Wait…_WHAT?! WHAT WAS THAT?! DID SHE R-R-RAISE THE MOON!? THAT'S NOT PHYSICALLY POSSIBLE! THIS DEFYS SO MANY LAWS OF PHYSICS! TH-THAT ISN'T POSSIBLE!" _Shadow Storm shouted, his face a mask of extreme confusion, frustration, shock, horror, and disbelief.

His eyes began to twitch, and he began rapidly muttering incoherent sentences. Suddenly, he stiffened, and blacked out from overload on his mental processors, falling on the ground unceremoniously.

The town was deathly silent for a few seconds, until the crowd (Minus an unconscious Shadow) continued to cheer for Luna.

Streak rolled his eyes, walked up to Shadow, and proceeded to kick him in the face lightly, but hard enough to wake him up.

Shadow jolted up in pain, remembering what had happened.

"What was that?" Streak asked, annoyed.

"…I can't believe it…" He murmured.

"Get over it…" Streak replied.

Shadow took a deep breath and stood up, legs still shaking slightly from what had happened.

"So Twilight, mind if we head back to the library? I feel like crap…" Shadow asked the unicorn in question, who happened to be nearby.

"Hiya guys!" Pinkie Pie shouted, falling out of the sky and landing on Inferno, who yelped in pain.

"How did you do that?" Shadow asked.

"It's a secret! But, I suppose I could teach you…" Pinkie trailed off.

"Yes. PLEASE." Shadow said immediately.

"Anyway, I'm throwing an after-party at Sugarcube Corner!" Pinkie said, "I was thinking you could bring the new guys and introduce them to the gang!"

Shadow, Streak, and Inferno shrugged.

"Sure." Shadow said simply, his expression slightly indifferent.

"Alrighty!" Pinkie cheered, "C'mon, everypony's waiting for us!" She said as she started hopping off into the crowd toward Sugarcube Corner, with the others close behind.

Shadow looked in curiosity at the building Pinkie had brought them to. The bottom of the house had no redeeming qualities, but the roof appeared to be composed of gingerbread, with icing and candy decorating it. The top level was even decorated like a gigantic cupcake. It looked very real, but Shadow doubted that because the local wildlife would have devoured it.

Upon entering the establishment, The trio was greeted with the most beautiful sight they had ever seen: The room was absolutely loaded with sweets. There were pies, cakes, cupcakes, candy canes, cookies, and much more. This store would be having _lots_ of business in the future.

"Come on guys!" Pinkie said leading them up the stairs to the left of the entrance, "Everypony is up in my room!"

Following her up the stairs, they entered a large circular room directly above the shop, filled with balloons, cake, punch, and four ponies.

"We're here!" Pinkie shouted, getting everyone's attention.

The trio recognized all of the ponies from the battle with Night Mare. They had seen them around town during the party, but hadn't talked to any of them except for Twilight and Pinkie.

While Streak was curious and Shadow indifferent, Inferno simply stared ahed blankly.

"_Jackpot._" He said slowly.

Shadow frowned, "Dude, really? They're ponies."

"Hey, have you looked in a mirror lately?" Inferno retorted, "Besides; When in Rome, act as Romans do."

"As messed up as it is, he's kinda got a point." Streak added.

"Hmm…I suppose…"

"What are you doing?" One of the girls asked.

"What we do when we're not in life-threatening situations or devising plans for world conquest; Standing around and talking." Shadow replied, already annoyed.

Pinkie giggled, "You guys are funny!"

"You do realize he's serious, right?" Streak asked, facehoofing.

"And correct." Inferno added.

"You guys are weird." The blue pegasus with the rainbow colored mane and tail said bluntly.

"Look who's talking." Inferno muttered under his breath.

"Anyway, I suppose introductions are in order?" Shadow asked, "I'm Shadow Storm. The red and white guy is Inferno, and the blond's name is Blazing Streak." He drawled, clearly wanting to move on.

"Ah'm Applejack, the element of honesty! It's a pleasure to meetcha!" The orange pony with the blond mane and brown stetson hat said happily. Shadow took note of her southern American accent.

The next pony was the white unicorn with the styled purple mane and tail.

"You're Rarity" Inferno said, remembering her from the night before, "the element of generosity."

"Quite right," Rarity said with a smile, "It's a pleasure to meet you Inferno."

The pleasure is all mine," Inferno said, lifting her leg up, and lightly kissing the end of her hoof.

Rarity blushed deeply, and everypony else laughed at her reaction.

"Sorry, couldn't resist." Inferno chuckled.

The next pony was a yellow pegasus with a pink mane and tail. She was also hiding behind her hair.

Shadow groaned internally; He found it annoying when people were too timid to accomplish a task at hand.

"And you are…?" He asked dryly.

She mumbled something unintelligible.

"I can't hear you." Shadow deadpanned.

She repeated her statement, slightly louder.

"I still can't hear you." He repeated, now slightly irritated.

Silence.

"Gott verdammt…" Shadow groaned in German.

The mare scooted back and gave a frightened squeak.

Just as he was about to make a sarcastic remark, Shadow suddenly felt something slam into him and pin him on the floor.

Shadow quickly looked up to see the cyan pegasus with the rainbow mane and tail. And she was _pissed._

Out of reflex, Shadow immediately grabbed her hoof and flipped her off of him, sending her crashing into the wall.

"Damn." Streak muttered under his breath.

"What the buck is wrong with you?" Shadow asked, now extremely annoyed and angry.

"What's wrong with YOU?!" The pegasus retorted, her magenta eyes boring into his gold ones like a pair of electric drills, "If you think you can be a jerk to my friend and get away with it, then you've got another thing coming!"

"Surprise…The rainbow pony has friends…" Shadow muttered sarcastically.

"What was that?" She asked, voice dangerously quiet.

"Oh, well you see, I was expressing just how motherbucking EXITED and HAPPY I am to have had the living shit beaten out of me, to practically have my future destroyed, to get wrenched away from home, and to land in a MAGICAL LAND filled with PONIES and FRIENDSHIP!" Shadow said, his voice dripping with so much sarcasm that you could have filled a mug with it, drunk it, and get a hangover the next morning.

"Yeah..w-well…I'm OUT of here!" And with that, the rainbow pegasus stormed out of the building.

"Shadow?" Inferno asked, "I know that you saw this coming anyway, but I'm going to say it anyway; What the_ BUCK _dude?!"

"Hey, it was an accident!" Shadow protested, serious, "I've been so used to the guys at the high school trying to murder me that it's become a reflex!"

Everypony was silent at these words.

"He's…not lying." Applejack finally said.

All heads turned toward Shadow.

"Is that true? You didn't mean to do that?" "Twilight asked.

"Yes, it is." Shadow replied, "And I just wanted to say…I'm sorry." The former human managed to choke out, still not believing what he was doing.

"You're…_sorry?!"_ Streak asked in disbelief.

"Yes, and if you don't shut up _you'll_ be the sorry one."

The two colts stared each other down, eyes narrowing.

After a few seconds, they began to laugh as if nothing had happened.

"So…yeah. I'm sorry, for being a complete asshole, for acting like an arrogant prick, and for what just happened. I'm sorry for everything…damn I suck at apologies" He chuckled, the others joining in.

"And don't worry about Rainbow Dash, she'll come around after some sleep." Twilight assured.

"Speaking of sleep, I'm turning in early. We've got some work to do tomorrow." Inferno said, yawning.

Shadow and Streak both agreed.

"Yeah…sorry again everypony." Shadow said as he, Inferno, and Streak exited the building.

"Well… That was certainly interesting…" Rarity said after hearing the front door closed behind the trio. "What do you think of them Twilight?" She asked.

"Take a look at these." Twilight said, handing Rarity three sheets of paper that had the colts' psychological information on them.

Rarity's eyes skimmed through the papers, twitching and widening about a quarter though.

She slowly put the papers on the floor, a look of fear and confusion on her face.

"On second thought, I will be getting some beauty sleep for…the next ten years or so…"

/

Shadow walked into his new room in the library. Yawning, he made his way over to the bed and collapsed on top of it, If the past two days were any indicator, then life here was going to be insane. And if he was going to make it, he would need sleep.

Because he thought this story was just the beginning.

**Prologue: End**


	3. The Ticket Master

Chapter 3: The Ticket Master

Shadow Storm slowly opened his eyes and looked around.

"Yup, still in cartoon pony world." He muttered under his breath.

Back home he would always be the one up at around five or six A.M, and be dressed and all ready for the day when his brothers were still fast asleep. Just as he was about to go downstairs to make himself breakfast a voice he didn't recognize spoke to him.

"Who are you?"

Shadow almost had a heart attack; he thought he was the only one awake. The former human turned around to see, at least what he thought was a tiny, purple dragon with a light green stomach, and dark green scales on his head, similar to a mohawk. If he was still a human, Shadow would most likely have reached for his knife and dismembered the dragon from the shock, but now that he had been in Equestria for a couple of days, he was used to the surprises, so he simply grinned.

"Storm. Shadow Storm. But hey, call me Shadow. Me and my friend here" He gestured to a still-sleeping Inferno, "are just staying here until we can find places to stay in Ponyville. By the way, who are you?"

"I'm Spike, Twilight's number one assistant!" The small dragon stated proudly, standing up tall. "Say, aren't you one of those dudes from a different world or something that came a few days ago and saved Twilight's and the others' flanks?" Spike asked.

"That's right." Shadow replied.

"Well, it's nice to meet you Spike." He said, extending his hoof while Spike grasped it in his hand and they shook. Shadow couldn't help being jealous of the baby dragon's hands; opposable thumbs would come in handy for what he had in store for today.

"So I guess your friend's gonna be around here for a while learning magic, huh? Besides, now that you and your friends are in Ponyville, I won't be the only guy!" Spike said, exited with the news. "Finally, I'm not gonna be stuck with Twilight and her friends 24/7 doing girly stuff!" Shadow gave Spike a playful noogie and replied

"Y'know Spike, I think all of us are going get along just fine! Well, i have to get going, so see you later!"

"But one more thing before you go…you know Rarity, the white unicorn with the purple mane?" Spike asked, smiling.

"Yeah…what about her?"

"She's mine." He replied, suddenly dead serious. "Stay away from her."

"O…kay?" Shadow replied, unsure of what to say.

"Great!" Spike said, happy all of a sudden again. "Have fun wherever your going!"

/

Inferno woke up to the sound of moving furniture downstairs. Despite him being tired, and that it was only 8:30 according to the clock on the wall, he didn't want to be late for his first magic lesson. _Magic lesson! _He remembered, almost instantly the whole reason he was exited, and immediately combed his red and white mane, not wanting to look like a mess for his first class.

Trotting into the front section of the library, Inferno finally understood why it sounded like furniture was being moved; Because it had. Twilight had put a large desk where a wooden horse head had once been, placed a chalkboard in front of one of the many bookshelves in the room. In the center of the room was a small desk, which he sat in.

Inferno had been waiting almost five minutes for Twilight to show up, and unfortunately he was not the patient type.

_When the hell is she gonna be here?! There's nothing to do…well, I could always try magic. Why the hell not? _

He noticed a pile of scrolls beside the door, closed his eyes, and imagined a hand reaching out to pick them up. When he opened his eyes, he saw something he never thought would happen: the scrolls were floating in midair with a bright crimson aura surrounding them and the same aura coming from his horn. At that moment Twilight entered the library carrying grocery bags with magic, and as soon as she saw Inferno, who was from another world, who had never used magic except when the element of hope had done it for him, and knew nothing of magic, was levitating a pile of scrolls like a pro, her mental processors almost snapped

"W-w-what? How…y-you…m-m-m-magic…l-levitate?" She murmured, her left eye twitching and no longer able to form coherent sentences.

"I dunno. I just sorta willed it to happen, and it happened. Guess I'm just a natural." Inferno replied casually, as if nothing significant had happened at all.

"But it takes some unicorns YEARS before they can even preform a single spell! Do you…do you know what this means?!" She asked, wide eyed.

"No bucking idea." Inferno replied bluntly.

"Inferno, this means that your training is going to take MUCH less time, and I thought it would take you longer because you have only been a unicorn for what…a few days?" She finished, finally giving herself a chance to breathe. There was a slightly awkward silence that went on for about thirty seconds until it was broken by Inferno.

"This…is…MOTHERBUCKING GREAT!" Unable to further control his excitement, the former human leaped forward and hugged Twilight. Within a tenth of a second, Inferno realized just who he was hugging, and quickly jumped away, blushing profusely.

"Hmm…that's strange, I think I just had a muscle spasm!" Inferno coughed awkwardly, "Maybe it's because I'm still getting used to my new body." Twilight then laughed at the colt's lame excuse for hugging her.

"Well, I guess we can end class early because you sorta ruined the need for my current curriculum!" Just then, Spike came running through the door with a scroll. "Twilight, I just got a letter from the princess!" He shouted running towards the two unicorns.

"What does it say?" Twilight asked, not knowing what the princess would write about at this time. Spike opened the scroll and began reading out loud.

"To Chairman Shadow Storm.

I am sending you this message to inform you that the animus is fully repaired and that the interrogation of subject 17 has once again resumed. We expect to have results within the week.

-Tesla"

"…What?" Twilight asked, confused.

"Oops, wrong letter!" Spike said sheepishly as he began to read the correct one.

"Hear ye, hear ye. Her Grand Royal Highness Princess Celestia of Equestria, is pleased to announce The Grand Galloping Gala to be held in the magnificent city of Canterlot on the 21st of, uh, blah blah," skipping over the unnecessary details. "Cordially extends an invitation to Twilight Sparkle plus one guest!" Spike took out two tickets and handed them to Twilight.

"The Grand Galloping Gala!" She exclaimed excitedly.

"Well, looks like Tesla has things taken care of."

They heard a familiar voice ask. Twilight, Inferno, and Spike turned around to meet the resident human turned pegasus. But he noticed something different about him. He had a black and silver jet engine strapped onto each side of his body just above his wings by an almost inconspicuous metal harness, and a miniature railgun also attached to a section of the frame.

"Is that a…"

Shadow finished for him. "Yes."

/

One thing Shadow Storm never had a problem to deal with was his little problem with Rainbow Dash. He never got the chance to apologize for being an asshole yesterday, but he decided not to worry about it and was certain the opportunity would rise when it did. Right now, he had plans he deemed more important, such as learning to fly. Even though he couldn't even FIND Rainbow, and the fact that Fluttershy was not the ideal flying teacher, Shadow had the feeling he could do this on his own, with just his skill, talent, knowledge, and ingenuity. And fortunately, his ingenuity came up when he considered revolutionizing the Equestrian military. He then begun a new field of research in weapons development alongside his job as Chairman in Group 601. The day was coming…soon.

/

"How the bucking hay did you get your hooves on those?" Inferno asked, curious to why Shadow had human technology with him.

"Hey!"

Twilight whispered harshly, covering Spike's "ears" with her hooves. "Language!" "Okay, okay." The unicorn muttered.

"So anyway, I've been conducting new research in 601, and as you can see, it's off to a good start." Shadow said.

"The Grand Galloping Gala is the most prestigious ball in Equestria!" Twilight explained. "It's something that anypony would die for a chance to go!" She said, suddenly giddy with excitement.

"It's really girly…to much dancing…and other stuff." Spike said, trying to name all the "girly" things about the Gala.

"But…I only got two tickets…who should I invite?" Twilight said, suddenly realizing the decision she would have to make.

"Don't worry about Inferno, Blaze, or me. We've never really been ones for dancing."

"But that still leaves five others! Who should I give it to?"

"Why don't you just-" Shadow started, but was cut off by Twilight.

"I've got it! I'll just go out and ask everypony what they would do if they had a ticket! Once they all tell me, I'll pick the one who has the best reason to go! It's foolproof!" Twilight announced, and proceeded to gallop out the library at full speed. After a long silence, Shadow spoke up.

"That, is the WORST damn idea ever. I mean, really. I suppose we'll have to go with Plan B."

"What the hay is Plan B?"

"No time to explain. Inferno, go get Streak from Sweet Apple Acres and both of you look for Twilight with Spike as your navigator in Ponyville. Me, on the other hand, I'll use my flying capabilities to cover more ground. C'MON, lets go!"

At that note, Inferno took off in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres with Spike on his back, and Shadow Took off into the sky, wings flapping and jets blazing.

/

While she trotted towards Sweet Apple Acres, Twilight thought about her brilliant plan, it would be _so _easy, she just had to be _really_ casual and-

"Well shucks Twi, you came a bit late!" The unicorn in question heard a voice with a southern accent say.

"Late?" She asked Applejack, "Late for what?"

At this, A.J. smiled evilly.

"Late to see Big Macintosh carry out his part of the bet! I bet him that Ah' could get all them golden delicious apples in the barn by lunchtime! An' now he's gotta walk down Stirrup Street in one of Granny's girdles!" She said, looking past Twilight, "You're lookin' real pretty there BIg Mac!"

Twilight turned around to see the stallion in question walking down a dirt path dressed in an old-fashioned pink girdle that compressed his midsection, due to it's tightness.

"It really brings out you're eyes!" A.J. shouted, holding back laughter.

But somehow, Big Mac was able to keep a straight face, and he kept on walking towards town, like nothing was wrong. After a moment, Twilight remembered the whole reason she came here;

"Hey Applejack,I was just wondering what you'd do at the Grand Galloping Gala if you had a chance to go!" She said, realizing that this was possibly the worst way to bring it up.

"Well," A.J. started, still slightly suspicious, "Ah'd really like to go so I could drum up some business for Sweet Apple Acres!" She said, imagining the scene, "Ah'd myself an apple stand set up there! Why, with all them hoity toity ponies, I could make a heap of money!" She went on, smiling at the thought. "We could replace that saggy old roof on the barn, and Big Macintosh could replace that saggy old plow, and Granny Smith could replace that saggy old hip! Why Ah'd give mah left hind leg to go to that Gala!"

"Hmm, that's a very good reason…" Twilight said nervously "I'll just be going now!" She said, walking away slowly, then breaking into a full gallop.

/

"Dammit, dammit, DAMMIT!" Shadow exclaimed as he flew over the center of Ponyville, the lavender unicorn nowhere in sight. He noticed a giant red stallion walking slowly down Stirrup Street.

_Probably Big Mac… _Shadow thought.

"What is he weari-" He said to himself, but was stopped dead by the sight of a _very_ large wagon filled with what looked like scrap metal rolling down the street towards Big Mac and the large crowd there.

Shadow knew that nopony, not even Big Mac himself could survive a head-on collision with Equestria's equivalent of a freight train, so he cranked his jets up to full power and roared towards the speeding cart. Shadow planned on breaking off the wheels on one side of the cart, rendering it immobile, but as he flew beside the runaway cart, one particularly sharp piece of scrap metal fell out and severed one of the steel beams that kept the jet attached, causing the engine to fly up in the sky, and for Shadow to loose control and tumble down the street, in front of Big Mac. After getting up, Shadow thought he heard an explosion from somewhere high up, but dismissed the thought for now, because as soon as he got back on his hooves, the wagon was only about twenty yards away from the crowd, and as soon as all hell broke loose, an idea clawed its way into his brain. A _stupid _idea, but Shadow wasn't one to complain right now. With the wagon almost upon the crowd, the former human did the only thing he could: Shadow powered his remaining jet to maximum power, aimed it at the speeding wagon, ignited the jet and removed it from its rod. The jet engine roared straight towards the wagon like a missile and rammed into it, destroying the runaway vehicle with a deafening explosion that knocked him to the ground. As Shadow got back up, he saw that surprisingly nopony had received any shrapnel wounds due to a pair of unicorns that had casted a shield spell around the civilians at the last second, well, almost everypony. Shadow turned around to see Big Macintosh with deep gashes in his hind legs and right side, that could prove fatal if not treated.

"PARAMEDIC!" Shadow yelled to the crowd and pointing at Big Mac, "WE NEED A PARAMEDIC HERE!"

Almost immediately several doctors and paramedics arrived at the scene, loaded Big Mac on a stretcher, put him in a medical carriage, and drove towards the hospital.

After all the chaos ended, Shadow relaxed slightly, but then remembered the explosion that followed the shard of metal severing one of his jet engines and turned around to see what looked like a floating mansion made of clouds with a rainbow spewing out of it, and a smoking crater in the side of it

_Well…shit. _Shadow thought, but he was interrupted by Inferno and Streak, both with astonished looks on their faces. Streak was the first to speak up

"Dude…that was bucking BADASS!" He exclaimed.

"We saw everything." Inferno said, grinning, "Nice thinking…uh Shadow…" He said, his expression nervous all of a sudden "You might wanna turn around…" Inferno said, gesturing behind Shadow.

Confused, the former human turned around only to see a cyan pegasus with a multicolored mane, her expression one of pure rage, and one of her magenta eyes twitching slightly.

"Would you care to explain," Dash started, her voice dangerously calm "what the _buck _happened here, and what happened to my house?"

"Well, it's a funny story actually…" Streak started, "You see, there was this giant runaway wagon going down the street that was sorta about to kill everypony, but then Shadow came in, got one of his jets cut off, which kinda…blew up part of your house, but then he used the other to blow up the cart! Preventing probably at least twenty deaths! Pretty funny, huh?"

"Yes Blaze, it IS really funny!" She replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Especially how Shadow BLEW A HOLE IN MY HOUSE!"

The former human cringed slightly, this was definitely not going to help with the 'Rainbow hating Shadow' situation.

"Listen, I…" Shadow started, but was cut off before he could continue.

"I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT!" Rainbow yelled in his face. "

HEY!" Blaze almost shouted. "Shadow just saved tons of lives, risked his OWN life, and you yell at him? For what? Being a hero!?"

Rainbow growled, she hated loosing, period. And she was loosing this argument. "Fine." She said. "If you'll excuse me, I have a house to rebuild." And with that she took off towards her semi-intact house. After a long, awkward silence, Shadow suddenly remembered the task on hand.

"Argh…dammit! Guys, any luck with finding Twilight?" He asked, frustrated.

"None whatsoever." Inferno replied bluntly.

"Y'all are looking for Twilight?" A familiar voice asked from behind them.

"Gah, seriously A.J., don't sneak up on us like that." Streak muttered.

"Sorry guys, and in case you're wonderin', Twilight was heading off to go see the others, fer some reason." She said, scratching her head.

"Thanks A.J., we owe you one!" Inferno called as the three former humans headed off. Once they were out of earshot, Shadow stopped them.

"Okay guys, I know I've been keeping you in the dark about 'plan B', so listen carefully:" Shadow then told them one of the most absurdly diabolical and obnoxious plans ever conceived. After Shadow's explanation, Inferno spoke up.

"Well, you can take the troll out of the internet, but you can't take the internet out of the troll!" He said, suppressing a laugh picturing their friends' reaction to the plan.

"Hey," Shadow replied, "That saying goes for all of us and you know it. Spike, get the letter ready." The baby dragon in question immediately took out a quill and scroll from seemingly nowhere and gave Shadow a thumbs-up. The former human cleared his throat and started. "From chairman Shadow Storm..."

Twilight walked through Ponyville with her thoughts at war with themselves.

Everypony had a good reason to go to the Gala, and how could she Rarity that Applejack making more money was more important than her finding her true love?

Or tell Pinkie that Fluttershy deserved to see the gardens more than she deserved to party?

Even if she gave up her own ticket, that would still leave four ponies left behind. Looking up, Twilight's train of thought was wrenched away when she saw a pile of partially molten scrap metal being cleaned up by ponies and a smoldering crater down Stirrup Street. She looked up to see Rainbow Dash fixing a large hole in her house.

"By Celestia, what happened here?"

At this Dash swooped dow towards Twilight

"You wanna know?" She asked, clearly agitated, "Try asking Lord Death and his henchmen of doom." Dash replied.

"Who?" Twilight asked, confused.

"I think I know." A familiar voice called.

The two mares turned around to se Shadow Storm, Inferno, And Blazing Streak, formerly known as Colin, Jackson, and Robert.

"How? What happened?"

"I suppose an explanation is in order: There was a giant runaway wagon filled with scrap metal rolling down Stirrup Street, and a huge crowd in the middle of it's path, so I attempted to take it's wheels off, but a piece of metal severed one of my jets, which then collided into Rainbow's house and exploded. I crashed by the crowd and used my other jet like a rocket, which blew the wagon up and stopped it from killing anypony." Shadow explained.

"Um… what's an rocket?" Twilight asked.

"Not important." Streak replied. After a long silence Dash spoke up.

"Well? Aren't you gonna turn him into a cactus or something?"

"No Rainbow, if he saved ponies' lives, then that won't be necessary." Twilight replied with a smile.

"Fine." Dash grumbled, "But don't think I forgive you!" She said to Shadow.

Twilight then turned around only to see her other five friends galloping towards her and the others. At this she finally let it spill.

"I-I Just…CAN'T DECIDE! I can't decide who to take to the Gala!" She almost screamed, tears welling in her eyes.

"It's okay sugar cube, we all know about it and decided to-" Applejack was cut off by Spike burping out a scroll with a gold seal on it.

Twilight was confused; she had not sent a single letter to the princess all day! Why was she getting one now? She decided to read the letter anyway. When she opened,she saw there was no writing. Instead, she pulled out five Grand Galloping Gala tickets. "This…is…PERFECT!" Twilight screamed in joy as she levitated a ticket to everypony. Everypony, except Shadow, Inferno, Blaze, and Spike. "But…where are your tickets?" She asked, not noticing that they all looked like they were on the verge of laughter.

"Well…" Spike started.

"You see…" Inferno continued.

"We sorta…" Blaze said.

"Had tickets the whole time!" Shadow finished, he and the others pulling out their respective tickets. Suddenly, the six mares were temporarily blinded by the flash of the camera capturing their dumbfounded looks of pure disbelief and rage. After they regained their vision, the Mane 6 found the four boys to be nowhere in sight. Then their attention was turned to a small piece of paper with an infuriating, smirking face on it and a single word under the picture: _Problem?_

**Please leave constructive criticism, rate, comment, and review.**

**This Is ZeroKnight115, Over And Out.**


	4. Applebuck Season

**Hey guys, I'm back! **

**I know last time I said I would try to post more consistently, but I'm not gonna have a lot of time with my mid-terms coming up, and expect regular updates at least once a week.**

**Also, I want to thank everyone who posted reviews for my story, and all the people who have viewed my story altogether.**

**Hope you enjoy!- ZeroKnight115**

Chapter 4: Applebuck Season

"Boy howdy! I got my work cut out for me. That there is the biggest bumper crop a' apples Ah' ever laid eyes on." Applejack, who was looking out to the gigantic fields of Sweet Apple acres. There were thousands and thousands of apple trees, just waiting to be harvested. "Eeyup. To big for you to handle on your own." Applejack's brother, Big Macintosh said, who had a bandage around his waist, due to the shrapnel wounds he had received recently. "Come on, big brother! You need to rest up and get yourself better. Ah' haven't met an apple orchid yet that Ah' can't handle." Applejack leaned her hoof on Big Mac's injured waist which made him grimace in pain. A.J. realized what she was doing, and hastily withdrew it with a sheepish smile. "Oops, sorry." She said. "Ah'll take a bite out of this job by day's end." A.J. declared confidently. "Biting off more than you can chew is just what I'm afraid of." Big Mac countered. "Are you saying' my mouth is makin' promises my legs can't keep?" Applejack asked sharply. "Eeyup." Mac answered bluntly. "Why of all the…this is your sister Applejack, remember? The loyalest of friends and the most dependable of ponies?" "But still only one pony, and pony plus hundreds o' apple trees just doesn't add up to…" "Don't use your fancy mathematics to muddle the issue! Ah' said Ah' could handle this harvest and Ah'm gonna prove it to ya! Ah'm gonna get every last apple out of those trees this apple buck season all by mahself!"

Shadow, Inferno, Blaze and Spike walked through the marketplace finishing one of Twilight's infamous to-do lists, which they had been at for hours, but it had payed off and they each had a saddlebag filled with Twilight's, and their own supplies. "Check, check, and CHECK!" Spike announced, snapping the three former humans out of their thoughts. "Finally!" Inferno said, with an agitated look in his face "That took bucking FOREVER!" "Shut up, at least you have magic to carry things with!" Blaze grumbled. Due to his natural skill, Inferno had effectively mastered levitation, and was working on creating magical barriers. Also, he had recently borrowed several books on pyromancy, and he was extremely intrigued by the destructive magic. The three former humans had also been sparring with each other frequently, and Shadow Storm was making astounding progress in flying, mostly through trial and error, and was currently working on a new project that he refused to give any details about. _Don't want anyone stealing my work…_ He thought, but his thoughts were cut short by a rumbling sound coming from beyond Ponyville. He and the others looked around to see everything shaking, including a glass of water on a nearby table. _How cliche…_the three former humans thought as they heard a voice in the sky yell out. "STAMPEDE!" Rainbow yelled, and at that moment ponies everywhere began panicking, running around, and screaming for help, save for Pinkie Pie. "HhHeEeYyY! TtTHhHhIiIiSsSs mMmMaAakKkeEesS MmMyY VvVoOoiIicCcCEeEe SsSoOuUunNdDd sSsiIiIlLlLlLlLyYy!" She said, her voice reverberating from the quake. "Well, It's official. We're screwed." Blaze said. "I have a feeling we're gonna be saying that a lot…" Shadow replied blankly. "Everypony calm down!" The Mayor called to the panicking ponies. "But Mayor," Rarity wailed overdramatically. "what ever shall we do?!" "Look there!" Rainbow Dash called, pointing a hoof towards the rampant herd. "YEEHAW!" Applejack shouted in the distance while galloping on the side of the stampede. "Move aside, Winona." A.J. ordered to her brown and white furred dog, who barked enthusiastically in reply. "Put 'em up girl!" A.J. shouted encouragingly. "This is the best rodeo show I've ever seen!" Pinkie exclaimed, who was eating a bag of popcorn she had gotten from seemingly nowhere. The three former humans simply put on poker faces and remained silent. "Come on, little doggies! Turn!" A.J. shouted as she bashed one of the cows, but unfortunately the herd remained on it's collision course with Ponyville. *Whistles* "Winona, put 'em up!" Applejack called. Winona started hopping from cow to cow, trying to find the leader. Applejack also hopped onto one to get a better view of her dog. "Ha hah! Gotcha!" Applejack said triumphantly as she swung her lasso around the lead cow's neck. "Attagirl!" A.J. encouraged once more. She then proceeded to tug the lead cow to make it turn. Eventually the lead cow veered away just as it was about to cross the bridge into Ponyville. The whole town cheered in joy that they had all been saved while A.J. stops the herd and walks over to the front cow. "Now what was that all about?" The cowpony asked in a serious tone. "[moos] [coughs] Oh my! Begging your pardon, Applejack, but Mooriella here saw one of those nasty snakes." The lead cow explained. All the cattle made a surprised gasp. "And it gave us all the willies, dont'cha know?" "I Completely understand, just next time try and steer clear of Ponyville." Applejack replied. "We certainly will, Applejack. So long, Winona!" The cow said as she lead the heard out of Ponyille, and as Applejack galloped out of town with a triumphant "yeehaw". "Yeehaw! Ride 'em cowpony!" Pinkie cheered. "Applejack was just…just…" The Mayor said, trying to find the right word. "Kickass!" Blaze shouted out of nowhere. "Exactly. We must do something to something to thank Applejack for single-hoofedly saving the town." The Mayor said. "I know," Pinkie said milliseconds after. "A PARTY!"

After several hours of preparation, the town hall was covered in banners, balloons, and other party-related things and almost everypony in town was waiting for their new hero to arrive. "We all ready?" Twilight asked. "Just one last thing." Rarity replied. She then used her magic to lift a large banner with apples pictured on it and set it on the middle of the building. "Now we're ready." She said, admiring her work. "Is Applejack set?" Twilight asked. "Actually, I haven't seen her all week." Rainbow Dash replied. "Not since the stampede." Pinkie added. "Do you think she's okay?" Blaze asked rather frantically, which caught Shadow Storm's attention. _Even I'll admit…this is a bit odd. And Robert does sorta have a point…what if something did happen?_ Shadow Storm thought. "But she'll be here for _sure_. Applejack is never late." Rainbow assured to the others. Later the residents of Ponyville gathered at town hall waiting for their guest of honor. Twilight was on the patio behind a poll stand, next to her was a stack of papers containing her speech. "Welcome everypony! Today we are here to honor a pony we can always count on to help in matters great and small. A pony whose contributions to-" Twilight started, but was rudely interrupted by Rainbow Dash. "Did you see Applejack's slick moves out there? What an athlete! This week she's gonna help me with my new flying trick, and I know it's gonna be _so awesome_! She squealed, making an amusing face. "Exactly. And-" Twilight tried to continue, but was interrupted once more, this time by Pinkie Pie. "This week, I get to run Sugarcube Corner for the first time!" She announced. "What does that have to do with Applejack?" Twilight asked, confused. Pinkie blinked rather absentmindedly before responding. "Oh. Applejack, one of the best bakers ever, is gonna help me! Applejack makes everything great, so free samples for everypony! She announced, and the crowd cheered wildly. Twilight then proceeded to push her out of the way and tried to resume once more. "O-kay, that's great. Now if I could just make a point without being inter-" She said just before a yellow hoof tapped on her shoulder. "Twilight?" Fluttershy asked softly. "-rupted." The purple unicorn finished, now extremely agitated. "Twilight, I'm so sorry, but I just wanted to mention that Applejack is also helping me this week with the official bunny census, where we count up all the new baby bunnies thatbwere born this season. She's gonna help gather them using her wonderful herding skills." She said softly. Despite this, Twilight gave her a 'Go. NOW.' look that the timid pegasus apply obliged to. "Anyone else? Anyone?" Twilight asked the crowd, who remained silent. "No? Well then, as I was trying to say-" She then saw the Mayor standing next to her, wanting to speak to the crowd. "UGH! Never mind!" Twilight said angrily as she tossed her papers into the air and got off the stage. "Ah-ahem. And so, with no further ado, it is my privilege to give the prized Pony of Ponyville Award, to our beloved guest of honor, a pony of the utmost trustworthiness , reliability, and integrity. Ponyville's most capable and dependable friend: Applejack!" She then opened the curtain behind her, to reveal there was nopony inside, and the crowd's cheers turned to gasps, save for Spike. "Cool! Way to Applejack, that was awesome! I mean-heh." Spike started, but stopped as he noticed roughly eighty percent of Ponyville's population was staring at him. "Ah-ahem." The Mayor grunted, clearing her throughout and waiting for an answer. There was an awkward silence throughout Ponyville. "Awkward." Spike muttered. "Ah'm here, Ah'm here!" A familiar voice called, and the crowd turned their heads to see a very tired Applejack stumbling through the crowd with two giant apple baskets on her sides, with most of them falling out. "[yawn][sigh] Sorry Ah'm late-woa-Ah' was just-woa-did A'h get your tail?" She asked as she clumsily bumped into almost everypony in the crowd and wobbled onto the stage. "Miss Mayor. Thank you kindly fur this here…award thingy. [yawn] It's all bright and shiny and, heh, heh heh, Ah' sure look funny, heh." She then began moving her head forwards and backwards at her distorted reflection and making a sound that resembled a broken siren. "Ooo-ooo." In the blink of an eye, Pinkie was up there too, swaying her head and staring at her reflection, causing Shadow to facehoof. "Okay. Well, thank you Applejack for saving us that scary stampede and always being there for everypony." Twilight thanked. "[yawn] Yeah. I like helping the ponyfolks and [yawn] and stuff." To the crowds surprise, their faithful hero had just fallen asleep in public. "Uhh…A.J.?" Blaze semi-shouted. "Oh, uh, yeah. Uh, thanks." She said as she woke up, and dragged the award away rather unceremoniously with her teeth. A long, awkward silence took place as A.J. slowly dragged her trophy away. "Was it just me or did Applejack seem a little-" Twilight started. "Tired?" Pinkie asked. "Dizzy?" Fluttershy added. "Messy?" Rarity asked. "Drunk?" Inferno also commented, earning stares from the crowd. "What?" He asked. "You were all thinking it." "She seems fine to me! Woo! Woo!" Pinkie said as she flung her head up. _She's hiding something…I should get the other two and investigate. _Shadow thought as the crowd kept talking.

Applejack was at Sweet Apple Acres, kicking trees left and right and harvesting apples. She was tired, but she knew she had to prove to the others that she could do it on her own. She then accidentally missed the tree she was about to buck, and knocked over a basket of apples. "Whoops." She said tiredly. Unknown to her, the three resident former humans were walking towards her with concerned looks on their faces. "Hey, Applejack!" Shadow Storm called. At this moment, A.J. fell asleep in a standing position and began snoring. _Wunderbar… _Shadow thought in his native language. "Applejack!" Inferno called. No response. "APPLEJACK!" Blaze shouted. Still no response. Fed up, the three former humans all jumped intron of A.J. and shouted simultaneously in her face. "APPLEJACK!" "Oh howdy guys." She said as she final came to her senses. "What are you doing?" Shadow Storm asked. "It's Applebuck season." She replied. Inferno's mind however, has an almost permanent home in the mental gutter, so he couldn't help but make a connection with Equestria's cursing. "I'm sorry. Could you say that again? I didn't quite catch that!" He said between giggles. The others realized what he meant and also began suppressing their involuntary laughter. "Ah' said Applebu-… oh screw you guys." She muttered. "Sorry A.J." Blaze said, still chuckling. "It's just the fact that Inferno here has the dirtiest mind in the known universe. But he's just messing around." "Yeah, sorry. Couldn't resist." Inferno apologized. "So you were saying?" Shadow asked, getting back on topic. "It's what the Apple family calls harvesting time. We gather all the apples from the trees so we can sell 'em." "I'm guessing you're doing this alone because Big Mac is injured?" Shadow asked. "Eeyup." A.J. said, doing a flawless Big Mac impression. "Well, we can help." Blaze said. "Yeah, are you really okay A.J.? You don't look so good. If you want, we can take it from here. No charge." Shadow added. "Ah' appreciate your offer, but Ah'm fine and A'h can do it on mah own!" "If you say so." Inferno said as they walked away. As soon as the three former humans were out of earshot, Inferno whispered into Shadow's ear. "Were gonna help her, right?" "Of course, dumbass!" Shadow whispered back.

"THERE you are." Rainbow Dash said in a disappointed tone. "I'm a might' sorry, Rainbow. Ah' was busy applebucki'n and Ah' guessed Ah' closed my eyes for a second, and, when Ah' woke up, Ah' was late. Now what's with this new trick of yours?" Applejack asked. "See this contraption?" Dash asked as she pointed at a giant seesaw thing and a tall platform. "Uh…yeah." A.J. answered. "Well, I'm gonna stand on one end, then you're gonna jump down from that platform, launching me into the air faster than I can take off on my own! Once I'm in the air I'm gonna do some amazing flips and spins that are sure to impress Wonderbolts!" Dash explained. "Isn't that a' might dangerous?" A.J. asked. "Pfft, not for a pony who can fly!" Dash assured as she got into position. "Well, alrighty then." Applejack said as she got onto the platform. "Ready? 1…2…3!" She counted down. A.J. jumped down, nut missed entirely. "Ummm…maybe I wasn't clear. You're supposed to land on the other end." "Got it." The cowpony replied, but every time she jumped off, she missed horribly. "Applejack, what the hay is going on? I mean, I thought I was working with Ponyville's best athlete?" "You are. Ah'm okay. R-really, Ah' have an idea." She then took the high end of the seesaw and pushed it dow. "Ta-da!" She cheered weakly. Dash was not amused. "Oh…maybe not. Okay, one more try. Ah'm sure to get it this time." A.J. once again jumped off the platform, but surprisingly was able to hit it. Unfortunately, Dash wasn't ready. "Heh heh…here Ah' go!" "WAIT!" Dash yelled as her friend jumped off, but it was too late, when A.J. landed Rainbow was launched into the air at high speeds and a rainbow trailing after her. "APPLEJAAAAAACK!" Dash screamed as she shot into the distance. "YOU'RE WELCOME!" A.J. yelled in return.

Shadow was glad Big Mac was still alive. If not, this mess would be a whole lot worse and he and the others wouldn't be able to ask for his permission to help in the orchids. It took some practice, but applebucking was relatively easy, besides the fact it was roughly 92 degrees outside and the fact his coat was jet black didn't exactly help. But despite that, the three former humans were making good progress, with Blaze as their main applebucker, Inferno using his magic to gather large amounts of apples at once, and his own use of flying to act as the eye in the sky, and to help him get around faster than normally, he had brought a new and improved jet engine model. All in all, things were decent. When Shadow was busy calculating the percentage of trees left by flying over the orchid, they came back, the things he feared most. Colin thought they had gone away when he entered Equestria, but of course that was too good to be true. The voices. At first he could only hear their echoey murmurs, but then they got louder and louder until they became raspy, demonic, metallic screams, but something was off. They were telling him something different than they usually did. "_**Look down…LOOK DOWN LOOK DOWN **__**LOOK DOWN**__**!**_" The voices screamed, and he obliged. For the first time, Shadow was thankful for the voices: when he looked down he saw several of what looked like a combination of a lion, scorpion, and bat heading towards Blaze and Inferno. "_**And one more thing…**__**FETCH ME THEIR SOULS!**_" Shadow was silent for a few seconds before giving a sick, twisted grin. "With pleasure." He said to the voices before rocketing towards the nearest manticore. "GUYS, HEADS UP!" He shouted as he rammed into it at top speed in it's face, breaking it's nose and jaw, sending a stream of blood down the creature's face. When the other manticores saw how their brother had been attacked, they roared in fury and pounced at Inferno, who created a force field at the last second around himself and Blaze. As Shadow regained his concentration, he felt a familiar feeling inside him, the same one he felt on the night he and the others had fought NightMare Moon, the feeling of _death._ Blaze and Inferno also began to feel the powers of their elements, and in a flash of light they had their reality medallions on. What surprised Shadow though, was that his right hoof had morphed into a black, jagged, razor sharp sinister looking blade. _Perfect… _Shadow thought as he saw the manticore whom he had originally rammed into kamikaze style, charging towards him with feral bloodlust in it's eyes. Back on Earth, Colin had had lots of experience with bladed weapons in general, and had taken many classes on different styles, so he felt like he knew what he was doing in this situation. As the crazed beast was only four yards away, he flapped his wings once and thrusted his blade's tip into the ground, the edge facing the manticore. And it was too late for the manticore as Shadow used it's own momentum against it as it was split down the middle, from head to tail in a big mess of blood and bone. He then noticed Inferno, whose shield had broken, but was shooting bolts of flame at the monsters, which were roaring in pain, and Blaze, who had just bucked a manticore's skull in with his newfound power. Despite their pony bodies, the three retained their human mindset, and their minds were set on the extermination of these monsters. _Interesting. _Shadow thought as he dodged the one of the manticore's stingers. _The Element of Hope seems to grant the user amplified magic power, The Element of Rage Gives you super…pony strength, and The element of Death sorta makes me the grim reaper. Awesome. _His thoughts were interrupted by the manticore raking it's sharp talons across his side, leaving deep gashes and it pinning him down and roaring in his face, the monster's weight breaking several ribs. The monster opened it's jaws to reveal dozens of bloodstained, razor-sharp teeth and Shadow closed his eyes and waited for the end. It never came. He opened his eyes to see a bright crimson aura surrounding the beast, seemingly crushing it with the force. Suddenly, his wounds began to heal, and he felt hope inside him. _I WILL protect this town, even if it means ripping apart every monster that get's in my way! _He thought. While Inferno's grip on the manticore was strong, he felt a sharp pain in his head, like someone was poking it with a hot iron. Shadow knew his friend would most likely be mauled and devoured by the creature, so he mustered up all the energy he could and tried to turn his leg into a blade again, but what happened next he could not explain. Instead of his hoof becoming a black blade, about a dozen black, razor sharp tendrils extremely similar to the ones Slenderman had, erupted from his back and shot towards the giant manticore, impaling it in multiple points, but did not kill it. Next, three black spines burst out of each of his from shoulders, and two cannons similar to the ones he acquired when fighting NightMare Moon, except much smaller, black in silver in color and without the hieroglyphics formed around his hooves, and fired orange blasts of energy, reducing the manticore to a pile of charred parts. The three former humans could not comprehend what had happened. There was a long silence that was eventually broken by Inferno. "Wow…our team now consists of Gandalf, The Hulk, and Slenderman/Death The Kid…talk about dysfunctional…" He said. They all broke out laughing but were interrupted by a voice that came from nowhere, a voice none of them had heard before. _**"Wow, that was fun wasn't it? A little chaos to make things more interesting? Yes? No? Maybe? Well at least I know not ALL of you ponies are so BORING! Well, that seems to be all the time I have left, so buh-bye!"**_ The voice said. They then heard what sounded like fingers snapping, and a bright flash of light filled the area. When it went away, the former humans saw all traces of the battle gone; the corpses, the blood, and the damage. "What…was that?" Inferno asked, his emerald eyes darting around the orchid. "I…honestly have no idea." Shadow answered truthfully. Further thoughts were interrupted by the sound of two ponies talking. "C'mon, I think we should be hearing this." He said as he and the others galloped towards the sound of the voices.

"I am not taking no for an answer- what?" Twilight asked, confused by her friend's response. "Yes, Twilight. Yes please. Ah' could really use your help." A.J. pleaded. Twilight then sighed with relief, knowing that it was finally over. She then heard hoof steps coming towards her. She then turned to see Shadow, Blaze,and Inferno. "I'm glad she's finally seeing sense!" Shadow said, sounding as relived as her. "I'll go get the others, C'MON, lets finish what we started!" Robert said, full of vigor. "Damn right!" Inferno said as he followed. When the others came back, the eight ponies got to work, letting Applejack get the rest she deserved. _Dear Princess Celestia, My friend Applejack is the best friend a pony could ever have, and she's always there to help anypony. The only trouble is, when she needs help, she finds it hard to accept it, so while friendship is about giving of ourselves to our friends, it's also about accepting what our friends have to offer. Your faithful student, Twilight sparkle. _When she was finished, Spike mailed the letter off.

While Shadow worked, he noticed the voices had gone. He figured the recent battle had sated their thirst for bloodshed, at least, for now. And that voice from before, he had _never _heard it in his life. Throughout the day, he, Inferno, and Blaze kept wary, for they felt this was only the beginning.

**Discord, Much?**

**Anyway, please leave constructive criticism, rate, comment and reveiw.**

**This is ZeroKnight115, over and out.**


	5. Griffon the Brush Off

Chapter 5: Griffon The Brush Off

Shadow Storm, Inferno, and Blazing Streak were walking down the street toward Sugarcube Corner. Earlier that day Pinkie had asked them to help her bake a new type of cupcake, and said if they did a good job baking the treats were theirs. Opening the shop, they noticed Pinkie standing behind the counter with an unnerving smile on her face.

"Hi guys! Ready to help me make some CUPCAKES?" She said, her right pupil wandering off to the side for a second before coming back to it's original position.

"Uh…that's what we came for…" Streak said nervously, not sure if he wanted to do this anymore.

"So, what do you want us to do?" Shadow asked, still wary.

"You eat these!" Pinkie said as she stuffed a cupcake into each of their mouths. They were the single most delicious thing the former humans had ever tasted, and all their worries about their pink friend were instantly washed away.

"So…now what?" Inferno asked when he and the others were finished.

"Now," Pinkie replied, "you take a nap!" As soon as the earth pony finished her sentence, the three former humans felt themselves black out and collapse.

/

"Ughh…" Shadow grumbled as he regained consciousness. He then opened his eyes to find himself in a pitch black room, tied down on some kind of table.

"Pinkie?" He called out, officially freaked out. The only thing he heard in reply was the erie echo of Pinkie's laugh. It was creepy.

"Shadow, you there?" He heard Inferno ask. "Yeah. Any Idea what the buck is going on?" Suddenly, Pinkie's voice rang out from right in front of the three former humans.

"You want to know what's going on?" She asked quietly "Well…take a look!"

All of a sudden the lights came on, and in front of the former humans stood Pinkie, holding a giant mirror. Looking in the mirror, the three colts saw that it seemed they had their colors inverted: Shadow's normally jet black coat, mane, and tail were now pure white, his eyes were bright blue, and his cutie mark was black now. Inferno's body was now a dark grey, with cyan eyes, his mane and tail recolored cyan with black highlights. Blaze, now had a bright purple body, gold eyes, and a bright blue mane. As soon as Pinkie saw their shocked expressions, she completely lost it and fell on the floor in a laughing fit. Shadow and the others couldn't help but also laugh. It seemed like a rather pointless prank, but pranks usually were, and this was one the best ones they had been dealt with.

"I never took you as the pranking type!" Inferno said, still laughing slightly.

"I sure am!" Pinkie replied. "In fact, I have a great idea for a prank I'm gonna pull!"

"Care to elaborate?" Streak asked, a devious smile on his muzzle.

"Well, I'm gonna ask Rainbow Dash to help me move a cloud and…" She began.

As soon as Pinkie mentioned Dash, Shadow immediately lost interest in the prank. Ever since he accidentally flipped her onto the ground, he and Dash were not exactly on perfect terms. Then he added insult to injury by accidentally annihilating a good chunk of her cloud house with a runaway jet engine. He just wished he could patch things up between them, but ever since the ticket fiasco he had only seen her once or twice. His thoughts were interrupted by an inverted Inferno

"We'd love to Pinkie, but we sorta have to get our color schemes back to normal. You two have fun!" He called as they walked out the door.

"Okie-Dokie-Lokie!" Pinkie replied cheerfully as the former humans trotted towards Twilight's house.

"We're back!" Shadow yelled as he and the others entered the library.

"Twilight?" Inferno called when they were met with silence.

"She's not here." Spike, who was holding a pile of scrolls said, before noticing their drastically altered colors.

"What happened?" He asked.

"Pinkie. Cupcakes. Don't ask." Streak replied.

"I suppose I'll have to fix us." Inferno grumbled.

"If you don't turn us into equine torches first, that is." Shadow replied sarcastically."

"Shut up." Inferno muttered as he looked for the book he needed, "Spike, bring me _The Unicorn's Guide to Color Alteration_!" The unicorn said. Almost instantly, Spike was standing in front of him with the desired book in his clawed hands.

_Damn he's fast…_ Inferno thought as he found the spell needed. "Well, here goes nothing!" Inferno said, a crimson aura surrounding his horn and a bright flash filled the room. When he opened his eyes, he saw they they were all back to their respective colors.

"Hay yeah!" Blaze yelled as he examined his hoof and found it to be his usual dull green. Shadow, on the other hand simply pulled a pair of black shades from seemingly nowhere and said

"Well, it seems that this pegasus is" He then put on the shades and grinned, "back in black!"

"Where did you get those shades?" Inferno asked after the long silence that followed Shadow's joke.

"I…." Shadow started, but then gained a confused look on his face "…don't know…" He finished as he took off the shades and put them on the table.

"Hey Spike, want some help with those scrolls?" Streak asked.

"Sure! Take these!" Spike replied, pointing to a giant pile if scrolls, which the three former humans picked up, Inferno using his magic, and Shadow and Streak with their saddlebags.

"Okay…where do we go first Spi-" Shadow asked, but was interrupted by a bolt of lightning crashing down right in front of their faces, causing the former humans to drop all their scrolls, which Spike accidentally set fire and disintegrated.

"HOLY SHIT!" The three colts shouted simultaneously, all of them tripping backwards onto the ground in shock. Still hyperventilating slightly, Shadow spoke up.

"How the hay did a bucking LIGHTNING BOLT come out of nowhere? It's perfect weather!" He was about to go on a full-out rant until they heard Pinkie's unmistakable laughter. Shadow groaned slightly and made a face that seemed to say _Oh, of COURSE. _

"Oh Rainbow Dash, we startled Spike into getting the hiccups!"

"He *hic* isn't the only *hic* one." Streakl grumbled, now also hiccuping.

As Shadow looked up, he noticed Rainbow wasn't laughing. It seemed as if the mere sight of him had ruined her day. Then everything became a bit awkward when no one responded or made a noise besides Spike and Blaze hiccuping.

"Good one Pinkie *hic* Pie *hic*. You're always pulling a fast one *hic* on me!" The baby dragon finally said.

"That fire doesn't hurt, does it?" Pinkie asked him.

"Nah." Spike replied, "Dragons are fireproof."

"That's a relief!" Pinkie said, turning to the three former humans. "Sorry about the mess-" She started, but stopped when she noticed there was not a scroll in sight.

"Spike…" Shadow started, "You do realize you either disintegrated and/or sent all those letters to Celestia, right?"

The purple dragon opened his mouth as if he was about to say something in reply, but then stopped and sighed.

"No worries. And nice job on the prank! You got us good!" Shadow said, looking up at the pranksters and smiling. Only half of them returned the favor.

"C'mon guys, lets find a spell to cure the hiccups before Spike sends _us _to the princess!" Inferno called as he trotted back into the library.

_Why isn't anyone acknowledging the fact I have hiccups too? _Streak thought angrily as he entered the library.

The Next Day

Shadow Storm trotted through the market, his saddlebags filled with various parts, tools, and materials. He had gone out to fetch some more supplies for his project, which he had to finish in time for a new weapon program in three days time with Froup 601. The prototype of the machine had been completed, but Shadow failed to actually test it, with or without a living subject, and he needed to run those tests fast. Despite this, Shadow couldn't help but praise his own genius with the sheer power of the device, and how _he_ had created it. His thoughts were interrupted by one of the voices talking to him

_**"You're so close Colin. You will NOT SCREW THIS UP!"**_

_Don't worry, everything is going according to plan. _Shadow replied.

Looking forward, Shadow saw Fluttershy on the other side of the market, leading some ducklings through the town. The former human couldn't help but smile, she was possibly the kindest being in the known universe. As much as he wanted to say hello, he had work to do. But when Shadow turned to leave, the voices spoke to him.

_**"TURN AROUND!"**_

Fluttershy slowly walked backwards, making sure all the ducklings were in line. However, she had been paying so much attention to the animals in front of her that she failed to notice the griffon standing behind her, whom she abruptly walked into.

"Hey!" The griffon said angrily.

"Oh!" Fluttershy said, turning around. "Please excuse me."

"I'm walking here!" The griffon said, glaring at the now frightened pony.

"Oh, um…I'm sorry…I..I…was just trying to.." The timid pegasus stammered, no longer able to form coherent sentences.

"_Oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"_ The griffon mocked, "Why don't you watch where you're going, doofus!"

At this point, Fluttershy, who was shaking in fear could not even form coherent _words_. "B…b…but…I…" Unfortunately for shy, the griffin didn't want to hear it, and began inhaling. Fluttershy instinctively plastered her ears down on the back of her head, and shut her watering eyes. She was going to scream at her. Just as she was about to let loose her roar, a voice from the side stopped the griffon and caused her to look for it's source.

"Hey, cockbite!" Shadow shouted, causing the griffon to look at him.

"What do you want?" She asked in a nasty tone.

"I want you to **buck off**." Shadow replied coldly, walking between Fluttershy and the griffon.

"Oh really?" The griffon asked snidely, extending her sharp talons and taking an offensive stance. "And what are you going to do about it?"

"This." Shadow replied simply, with a death grin on his face. Before the griffon could attack, about two dozen black, razor sharp skull tendrils burst out of Shadow's back, coiling around the griffon's limbs and beak, and lifted her into the air in the blink of an eye.

"Now," Shadow started, his left front leg becoming a death cannon and his voice dangerously calm, "If I wasn't clear before, listen now. If you ever try to hurt her or **any** of my friends, I will not hesitate to make you _wish_ that your pathetic excuse for a soul burns in hell."

At this note, the tentacles dissolved into a stream of what looked like black pixels, dropping the griffon on the ground and his gun turned back into a hoof.

"You'l regret that!" The griffon said, backing away.

"Not as much as you will." Shadow replied calmly. _**"**_

_**Well…that was unexpected…" **_The voices said, breaking the silence that followed the griffon's retreat.

_For once, I have to agree. Look's like this world isn't all sunshine and rainbow's after all. _

Shadow then remembered Fluttershy, who was shaking uncontrollably, with tears streaming down her face.

"Th…thank you…" She said, slowly looking up at him.

"Hey, don't worry about it, I was just doing what anypony would have done. And besides, Streak would probably eat me or something if I let anything happen to you!" Shadow replied with a smile.

_**"And good thing you didn't kill that griffon. That would have brought…unnecessary attention upon us."**_The voices added, seemingly amused.

"THAT WAS AMAZING!" A voice from behind shouted,

"It's a good thing you were here!"

"Pinkie?" Shadow asked, "What are you doing here?"

"I saw the whole thing from over there! I KNEW Gilda was a meanie-pants after all!" Pinkie exclaimed.

"Gilda?" Shadow asked, "Never heard of her. Did she just move here or something?"

"Nonono, she's actually Rainbow Dash's best friend from flight school!" Pinkie replied.

_Wait…she's Rainbow's best friend and I…aw shit. _Shadow thought, realizing what he had done. "Are you telling me that I just made mortal enemies with Rainbow Dash's BEST FRIEND!?" The former human shouted.

"Yeah, why?" Pinkie asked, totally oblivious.

Shadow facehoofed before getting back on topic. "Okay, how do you know her?" He asked.

"Well, after all the pranks me and Dashie pulled yesterday, I thought she would want to do some more, so this morning I went to her house to ask her!"

"Kay…" Shadow said.

"But Gilda was there, and she told me to buzz off!" Pinkie finished.

"So she's basically an all-around asshole, huh?" Shadow asked.

Pinkie nodded. "But, I have a master plan!"

Shadow focused more, this sounding like a good idea.

"I'm gonna throw her…A PARTY!" She exclaimed.

"A…party?" Shadow asked, not sure if he heard right.

_**"Somehow I'm not surprised."**_

"Weeelll, that's not all…" Pinkie replied and began explaining the most evil and devious plan he had ever heard of.

/

Shadow stood by Sugarcube Corner with a smile on his face. After Pinkie (earlier crowned the new troll master) explained her plan, he couldn't help but feel as if nothing could go wrong. Period. He then noticed Inferno and Streak walking towards the building. "Hey guys, whats up? You get the invitation?" He asked.

"You seem awfully happy today." Inferno replied, a slightly uncertain look on his face.

"So who's this party for again?" Streak asked.

"It's for Gilda, one of Rainbow Dash's friends from flight school." Shadow replied.

"So, what's she like?" Inferno asked.

"Oh, she's great!" Shadow replied with a smirk, "Never met a nicer griffon in my life!"

_"__**You've never met any other griffon in your life…**__**"**_

"That's good to hear. So, where's Pinkie?" Streak asked.

"Probably setting up some party gags with Dash or something." Shadow replied, "You two have fun!" He said as the other former humans walked inside.

After watching his friends head off, Shadow Storm turned around, where he came face to face with Rainbow Dash, who as usual didn't look happy.

"What is your problem?" She asked.

"What do you mean?" Shadow replied.

"Why are you throwing the party? Gilda told me what happened at the market earlier."

"She did?" Shadow asked, surprised,_ I didn't think she would tell her best friend something like that… _The former human thought._**"Nor did I."**_The voices added.

"She told me how you used those black tentacles to shut her beak, lift her off the ground, and yell at her for no reason!" Rainbow yelled, getting angrier as she spoke.

"Excuse me?!" Shadow almost shouted, "I think she might have left a couple details out!"

"I don't care if she didn't recite the day perfectly!" Dash shouted, "I don't know what you're planning here, but that doesn't mean you should be here!"

"Are you even going to listen to what I have to say!?" Shadow asked coldly.

"I have all the evidence I need!" Rainbow yelled.

"Get out." She said, her voice dangerously calm.

"I would if…" Shadow started.

"GET OUT!" Dash screamed, silencing the entire building.

"**Fine."** Shadow said, and rocketed into the air, the pure anger visible in his voice, and resisting the urge to dismember Gilda as he saw her smirking at him.

/

As Shadow flew away from Sugarcube Corner, he spied a good-sized cloud above a hill on a clearing at the edge of town, which he flew up to and sat on. He tried to stop himself from hating Dash; Gilda had lied to her.

GILDA! The very thought of her caused _it _to graze the surface of Shadow's mind, tempting it to burst out. At this thought, the voices began ringing through his head, but were silenced by Shadow. _No, there was no way she could have known that Gilda lied. _He thought.

Shadow realized he would have a lot of time to kill waiting for Pinkie to come through for him. The former human then flew to his workshop and grabbed one of his unfinished projects. Not the one he was planning on presenting in three days, but something a bit more personal. He flew back to his cloud, and continued the process of creation as he waited.

/

"**This** is your idea of a good time!?" Gilda shouted, sick and tired of all the pranks that had been played on her throughout the party, "I've never met a lamer bunch of dweebs in my life! And Pinkie Pie!" She added, pointing to the pony in question, "You are queen lame-o with your weak little party pranks. Did you think that you could loose my cool?" She asked, Inferno facehoofing at the question's sheer irony while restraining Blaze with his magic, "Well, Dash and I have ten times much as cool as the rest of you put together! Come on Dash, we're bailing on this pathetic scene!" She finished, waiting for Dash to follow her.

Across the room Pinkie grinned widely. It had all gone according to plan…except the part where Rainbow yelled at Shadow, but at least Rainbow would find out what kind of griffon Gilda really was!

"_Come on_ Rainbow Dash. _I said,_ we're leaving!"

"You know Gilda, I was the one who set all those 'weak' pranks at this party." Rainbow said, shocked at the way her old friend had acted.

"W…what?" Gilda asked in disbelief.

"So," Dash continued, "I guess I'M queen lame-o."

"Come on Dash! Your joshing me!" Gilda said, hoping she didn't mean it.

"They weren't all meant for you specifically!" Dash explained, "It was just dumb luck that you set them all off."

"I should've known! That dribble cup had Rainbow Dash written all over it!" Pinkie said, fully knowing she convinced her to play the prank.

"No. Way." Gilda tried to counter, "It was Pinkie Pie! She set up this party to trip me up! To make a fool out of me!"

"Me?" Pinkie asked innocently, "I threw this party to IMPROVE your attitude! I though a good party might turn that frown upside down!"

"And you sure didn't need any help making a fool of yourself!" Dash shouted, "You know, this is NOT how I thought my old friends would treat my new friends! If being cool is all you care about, maybe you should find some new COOL friends someplace else." Rainbow said, angry that her friend had always been this way.

Gilda growled at that statement."Yeah? Well you…you…" She stammered, trying to come up with an insult, "You are such a flip-flop! Cool one minute, lame the next. When you decide not to be lame anymore, give me a call!" She said, storming out the door and flying away.

"Not cool." Dash said as she watched Gilda leave.

"Wow…" Spike said out of nowhere, "Talk about a party pooper…"

"Flip-flop?" Inferno asked. "That's quite possibly the worst insult ever…Of all time."

"I'm sorry everypony for bringing Gilda here." Rainbow apologized, "I didn't know ho rude she was…and Pinkie Pie, I'm really sorry she ruined this awesome party you put on for her."

"That's fine…" Pinkie replied, remembering Shadow for a split second, "But I already knew she was like this."

"How could you have know THAT?" Rainbow asked in disbelief.

"Well, I saw what happened at the marketplace! She was being a big meanie-pants to Fluttershy but then Shadow made Gilda leave her alone!" Pinkie explained.

"He was only standing up for me." Fluttershy added quietly. "We would have done more or less the same thing." Inferno said, he and Blaze joining the conversation. Still processing all of this information, Rainbow Dash knew what she had to do. "Sorry guys, but I gotta go. Sorry for leaving on such a short notice." She said as she flew out the door. For the next couple minutes, Dash flew around Ponyville, looking for Shadow Storm, but with no avail. Tired, she spotted a good-sized cloud above a clearing at the edge of town. As she neared the cloud, she noticed something odd; the cloud had what looked like a black spot on the center… she then noticed the silhouette of two wings and realized who it was and flew towards the cloud.

/

Shadow sat on the cloud working on the DG-4 and occasionally looking at the beautiful sunset. The voices had not spoken to him once, and he had a feeling of peacefulness. Of course this feeling was not complete with the fact that he was busy building a weapon of mass destruction, but he always enjoyed building things and when he flipped the red switch that caused the tesla bulbs on the weapon to light up, he was extremely satisfied with his work. _Ja, dies solute gut funktionieren. _He thought as he examined his the device. He had seen Gilda fly out of town a few minutes ago which confirmed that Pinkie's plan had worked. But despite this, he thought this might have made his relationship with Dash even _worse_, but he knew this was for the best. The former human imagined the day when he could patch things up with Dash would come eventually, but probably in a while. Maybe a month or two? Or maybe-

"Hey Shadow." Said a voice from behind him.

_Wow…that was fast… _He thought.

"I…I'm really sorry. For everything." Dash started.

Shadow knew what was coming. Though he normally despised long apologies, the former human supposed he could make an exception this time, and remained silent, ready for the apology to come bursting out.

"I…I've been a big jerk to you. Like, a REALLY big jerk! I thought you were just being really selfish and mean…but Pinkie told me what happened today." She continued, stumbling a bit.

"No one treats any of my friends that way. Period. If they do, then they end up like the others." Shadow said, turning around to face Dash.

"I'm just…really sorry! Not just for today, but altogether! I've been such a jerk, I mean, I attacked you, yelled at you for saving lives, and now this! I'd understand if you hated me…"

At this, Shadow began chuckling, then laughing.

"W..what's so funny?!" Dash asked, slightly flustered.

"It's just so ironic that you're the one apologizing when my whole life I've been the most arrogant, insensitive, selfish prick the world has ever seen!" Shadow replied once he had calmed down. "How about this, let's just start fresh."

Rainbow was dumbstruck. He had forgiven her _that _quickly? "…Really?" She asked in disbelief.

"Why the hay not? It's better than starting a world war!"

Narrowing her eyes, she walked up to him and stared at him, almost as if she was making sure he wouldn't say "LOL JK!" And fly away.

Being this close to her, Shadow couldn't help but notice how good she smelt…like roses and storm clouds, which seemed to match her eyes perfectly. Her beautiful magenta eyes…

_Wait a minute…did I just think that? Brain, shut up. Or I will twist you off my spinal cord. Slowly. Yes, I am aware that would kill me. _He thought angrily. Deciding now wasn't the time, Shadow snapped himself out of Dash's stare and extended his hoof with a smile. "Hi, I'm Shadow Storm."

"I'm Rainbow Dash." She said, extending her hoof to meet his. At that moment, Shadow remembered the nickname he gave her the first time he met her back when they…were on not so good terms. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Skittles."

"Really?" She asked, remembering the name too, "You call me that right off the bat?"

"Buck yes." He replied, happy that they weren't at each other's necks anymore.

Instead of making a sarcastic comeback, Dash turned and sat down to watch the setting sun with him.

**Please leave constructive criticism, rate, comment, and review.**

**This is ZeroKnight115, over and out.**


	6. The timeline

Chapter 6: The Timeline

Unknown location

Something had changed.

Nothing was right.

Reality had been rewritten.

It was a dark, circular chamber, with a strange pulsing disc in the center, some sort of generator above it, and advanced technology, almost _alien _in nature covering the room. The most noticeable thing, however, was the collection of large screens adorning the front wall, each with what looked like…timelines, moving forward, branching off and changing, with the timeline coupled with some sort of map labeled with strange hieroglyphics and numbers. The strangest thing was, all the screens were connected by some sort sort of golden rod with claws at the end, and a strange fluorescent liquid flowing through the center.

_**"Bring me reality number 401." **_A deep, raspy, echoey voice that seemed to be almost mechanical, and ghostly at the same time that had a slight draw on it's vowels called from the shadows .

_**"Of course." **_A second, more smooth voice answered.

One of the strange screens flashed on with a collection of dates coming and pictures of a vivid, happy world coming one after the other.

_**"Stop." **_The first voice said, the timeline stopping in the desired location, _**"This is…incorrect. The elements of harmony were not scheduled to fail…not yet. And it seems subject CH405 is stirring already." **_The first voice said._** "**_

_**But by whom? We already have many problems on hand! The disappearance of 935 and…it." **_The second voice muttered in an agitated tone.

_**"Let CH405 play his games. While the disruption of this timeline is too late to redirect conventionally, more…unorthodox tactics will suffice, as they did in the era when the planes had overlaped." **_The first voice said in assurance.

_**"1936 to 2025?" **_The second asked.

_**"Correct. Between those times, Dr. Edward Richtofen played a key component with the recovery of the artifacts and activating the mechanism. He and 935 reminded me of each other, the same madness under their calm exteriors." **_The first replied.

_**"You aren't suggesting the fragmentation progress had succeeded, are you?" **_

The first voice's mind flashed back to images of incomprehensible carnage and annihilation. _**"Yes, I am aware of the events that took place then. 935 was forced to go through the protocol too quickly, and thus was determined unstable. The theories were correct: He activated the Kasimir mechanism and attempted the fragmentation protocol on himself and the entity. Some believe he is still out there. Creation forbid he is." **_The first voice said with a small sigh in the end. It turned toward the largest screen in-between the network, which was blank.

_**"Does Celestia suspect anything?" **_The second voice finally asked.

_**"Do not concern yourself with Celestia's antics. She may consider herself the goddess of her little universe, but she is something less. An inferior. The 'sun princess' and her species know nothing of the potential and significance of the mechanisms. At least, most of them." **_It said, gesturing toward the monitor that showed a black pegasus with gold eyes and a strange cutie mark with the number "935" on it.

_**"I presume he knows of the function of the devices, how they work, what they do?" **_The second voice asked.

_**"Correct. He is also the current reality element of death; the grim reaper, and the second to have a connection to 935. But there is a part of him, almost completely independent that more resembles…115. I propose we send someone to observe the situation undetected." **_The first voice suggested.

_**"Agreed." **_

At that moment the silhouette of a bipedal figure walked up to where the voices were.

"I understand my objective. Permission to leave through the mechanism?" He asked in a voice that almost seemed…human..

_**"Permission granted." **_The first voiced rasped in reply.

The figure then walked up to a dark grey domed cylinder with strange symbols covering it, glowing blue lights on the sides, and some sort of mechanism on the back. He walked inside the machine, entered the coordinates in the main computer, activated the mechanism, and bolt of intense blue lightning enveloped the figure, warping him through space and time.

/

As X excited the machine, he studied his new body: a grey earth pony with a short black mane and tail, brown eyes, and a black "X" as his cutie mark. This would have to suffice until his return.

Judging from his surroundings, he was in Canterlot at the time of the royal wedding between Shining Armor and Princess Cadence. The memory sickened him to his stomach, but he knew he had to keep going backward: there was work to be done. As X walked back into the T.S.M., the doors shut abruptly, and the machine began shaking uncontrollably while repeating the space-time manipulation process. This had_ never _happened before. Suddenly, the machine stopped. In the end, the T.S.M. brought him a day after the NightMare incident, during the big party. He would have to start from here. Over the days, X noticed change after change in reality 401's timeline such as a giant wagon filled with scrap metal being blown up, large explosions emitting from Sweet Apple Acres, and the cracking seal of CH405 beginning to break.

None of this had happened before, nor was supposed to happen. Reality had been rewritten.

Although X knew he couldn't compromise his cover by making a big deal out of the events and asking to many questions to other ponies, he would try to gather as much intel as possible in, and bring it back to them. X shuddered, feeling there was more to this than met the eye. There usually was. But the entity knew better than to snoop around in matters he probably shouldn't even know about.

**THE PLOT THICKENS! Sorry if this chapter was confusing, but that was sorta my intention… Don't worry though, all this crazy shit will be explained in good time. All in good time…*Laughs manically***

**Please leave constructive criticism, rate, comment, and review.**

**This is ZeroKnight115, over and out.**


	7. Sunset

Chapter 7: Sunset

Shadow Storm sat on the cloud with Rainbow Dash watching Celestia's sun set, not saying a word.

The two pegasi had just made up after several weeks of being at each others necks, and were glad it was over. Besides, Shadow had enough problems already, the voices and _it _being prime examples. He remembered the first words the voices said to him :_The blackness…WILL SWALLOW IT! _ Back when he was just a little kid.

His logical side was glad to be away from earth, from humanity. All the chaos, bloodshed, treachery, and death. But the other side of him seemed to _miss_ it, miss everything.

Despite his equine body, Shadow still had a human mind, even though it had strayed somewhat from how it worked back on earth, most likely from the lack of violence and other things that were common back home. He glanced to the DG-4 lying next to him. That weapon was proof. His thoughts were interrupted by Dash finally speaking up.

"So, what's it like?" She asked.

"What?" Shadow replied in confusion.

"I mean, your world. Where you lived before you and the others came here."

"Oh, that." Shadow said, chuckling slightly, "Well…" He started, "On earth, there's a lot more violence, there's no magic, the people there are total assholes, there are wars going on all the time, leaders are corrupt, people can't teleport, or walk on clouds or defy gravity, or anything like that, and we're always fighting, for one reason or another. To put it simply, my world is a stream of never-ending chaos." Shadow explained, finally taking a breath after his rant.

"Woah…" Dash said, her eyes widened in horror, "How could you guys stand living there?" She asked.

"Meh, you get used to it after living there for your whole life. Hey, don't get me wrong, earth can be a nice place. But in Equestria, life seems to have more…meaning. And back home, my species has done a _lot _of atrocious things, things so evil that it could probably make a pony go insane." The former human replied, sighing slightly, "Equestria and earth, they're just so…different. I mean, not just the way the inhabitants are and the way they work, but the way the world _looks_ too."

"How so?" Dash asked, now genuinely interested.

"Well, everything here, it has so much color, it's so much brighter but…somehow less defined. It's hard to explain. I guess for somepony like me, it's sorta like a world of…drawings…I imagine it looks real to you guys, but to me it looks…gah, I sound like an idiot, don't I?" Shadow said, chucking.

"Not more than you usually do." She replied, smiling.

"Ha ha." Shadow said sarcastically. "Could an idiot build….THIS?!" The former human asked in mock determination as he held held up the DG-4 and lit up the tesla bulbs. "What is that thing?" Dash asked. "The end result of my genius! The Wunderwaffe DG-4!" Gaining a confused look on her face, Dash asked the question that he had despised ever since World at War came out and players began mispronouncing the name of the wunderwaffe.

"What's a wonder waffle?" She asked, legitimately confused.

"*Sigh* It's the third model of the wunderwaffe, which translates to 'wonder weapon.' The first model, the DG-2 was based on a matter-transference device name 'Die Glocke' which translates to 'the bell', and stands for the DG in the name. The device itself utilized an element 115 infused current with these special tesla bulbs to…" Shadow started, noticing that his words were lost on the cyan pegasus who most likely didn't understand a thing he was saying, "…It shoots lighting bolts." He explained simply, slightly agitated that he couldn't go into a full-out scientific rant, but he knew this wasn't the time for that.

"Awesome!" Dash exclaimed, now knowing what the weapon did. "Yeah, it is awesome, but I still have to put on some finishing touches." Shadow replied, turning off the power and putting it back into the bag he had originally brought it in.

"So, enough about me, tell me about yourself! We're basically best friends and I know pretty much nothing about you!" Shadow asked.

Rainbow, glad to move on to another topic, happily obliged. "Well, as you probably already know, I'm really in to flying! Ever since I was a filly, I've been to all these different camps, clubs, classes and stuff, which is where I met Gilda by the way. All of this was for one thing;" She said, her voice beginning to squeak, "The Wonderbolts!"

Shadow had heard about them in Ponyville; They seemed to be Equestria's equivalent of the Blue Angles. He thought it made sense for somepony like Dash to join the Wonderbolts, and he couldn't think of a better pegasus for the job.

"I mean, if I joined, I could make them so much better! They would be flying with the best of the best! Everypony in Equestria would know the name of Rainbow Dash!" she finished, dreaming of all the possibilities.

"Only the best are allowed to join right?" Shadow asked, to which Dash nodded in response to. "Then you'll have no problem. I've only been here for a couple weeks, but you're the best I've seen!" Now blushing, Rainbow looked up to thank him, but the former human wasn't finished. "Besides me of course." Shadow finished with a cocky grin.

"Please, I'm the fastest flyer in Equestria! If you think you're so fast, then race me!" Dash announced, her competitive side kicking in.

"Challenge accepted, Skittles." Shadow replied, smirking.

"To that hill and back?" Dash asked, ignoring Shadow's use of her nickname and pointing towards a large hill on the other side of Ponyville.

Shadow nodded in response, getting into a starting position and flaring his black wings, Rainbow doing the same. "Ready to loose, Shadow?" Dash asked, a cocky grin on her face. "Please, I'm Equestria's equivalent of an SR-71." The former human replied, still looking forward towards the hill. "A wha-" Rainbow started, but was cut of by Shadow revealing a pair of afterburners and taking off instantly, a troll-face mask on.

Realizing he had confused her on purpose, Rainbow took off as fast as possible after Shadow, and was actually finding it hard to keep up. _NO WAY! _Dash thought in agitation. She, the amazingly awesome Rainbow Dash was having trouble keeping up with some colt who had never had a real flying session in his life!

Seeing that Shadow was nearing the hill, Rainbow gathered all the energy she had left and propelled herself forward, crashing into Shadow and landing them both on the hill.

"GOTCHA!" Dash said, panting, with Shadow pinned on the ground.

"You've 'got me'?" Shadow asked jokingly with an eyebrow raised.

Immediately, Dash looked down to see the position she was in. "Wha…NONONO! Tha…that's not what I meant!" Dash stammered, blushing profusely, "I-I mean…mean…n-not that I d…don't like you or a-anything…I'm sure it would be very nice to…" Realizing what she had just said, Dash simply shut up, blushing intensely and turning away from the former human, who remained silent.

_**"**__**You're an asshole…"**___The voices said to Shadow.

"I'll just go…" He said slowly, slinging the DG-4 over his back. "Goodnight Skittles. Also, do you think sometime you could teach me to fly better? I only got ahead of you because I kinda cheated…" He asked, chuckling slightly nervously.

Still blushing, Dash turned around to face him and smiled. "S-sure, why not? I don't have anything better to do."

Shadow returned the smile and mock-saluted. "Roger that, Sergeant Skittles!" And with that, he took off toward the library.

"Goodnight!" Dash called, unsure if he had heard her.

Dash sighed. There was just SOMETHING about this guy, this colt, that made her feel and sound like a complete idiot when she spoke to him, and she didn't understand why. Perhaps it was his great intelligence , coupled his cool and sarcastic demeanor, and that small glint of madness in his eyes. Or perhaps…it was something else.

Dash was shocked; Had her opinion of Shadow changed _that _quickly? They had only been on good terms for probably not even an hour, and this crazy stuff was going on already? Was it even possible for things like this to go that fast? Or maybe this was just the embarrassment talking. _Gah…_ Rainbow thought. WHY did she have to say that earlier?! WHY did she even say that in the first place!? She had been _such _an idiot!…Well, he HAD requested flying lessons, so that was a good sign…right? Realizing how late it was, Rainbow Dash took off toward her cloud house and headed straight to bed. She could clear her head out in the morning.

/

Shadow Storm sat alone in the library, the others still at Pinkie's party, wondering the same things as Dash. In his life, the former human had made many friends and enemies alike, but this was something…different. Unlike the majority of boys he had known, Shadow was never the type to constantly run after random girls, flirting every chance they got; he had considered those types of people desperate and sometimes downright pathetic. He found it ironic that this sort of thing would happen to him with a PONY of all things! He had despised equines in general back home, horses, ponies, unicorns, etc. But this pony, something about her seemed…right. Yeah…that was the word…right. His thoughts were abruptly interrupted by the voices' demonic screams bringing back to the former topic in his head. The former human sighed; there was so much that the others, including Dash didn't know about him. So much they didn't know…

**I apologize the recent chapters have been a bit short and if they focused too much on one character, but those were more for character development than anything else. But don't worry guys, the next chapter will be absolutely HUGE, but will take some time because of it's size.**

**Please leave constructive criticism, rate, comment and review!**

**This is ZeroKnight115, over and out.**


	8. Boast Busters

Chapter 8: Boast Busters

Shadow Storm woke up in his bed in the library and looked over at the clock on the wall, which read 10:57.

_Damn, must have overslept…_ He thought as he got out of bed and stretched his wings. He only had two days to finish conducting the tests with his project that he planned on presenting for 601, and tomorrow he was to have flying lesson with Rainbow Dash… At that thought he remembered last night when they had finally made up, which was still fresh in his mind. The part of the night he remembered most though, was the end. He remembered the race, how she had been embarrassed, how she lost the ability to talk and how she had begun rambling over the joke he had made. The way she had lost the ability to form coherent sentences made him smile every time he thought of it. She could be so _cute._ He almost laughed at himself; the former human remembered how back home he wondered why people loved horses so much. He hated books, movies, and similar things that revolved around some sort of animal, sentient or not. _Especially _ones that involved any sort of equine. Then again, the ponies here were so much better, and dare he say it, more attractive. Something just seemed…right about her… Before Shadow could continue thinking, he heard a great deal of commotion coming from outside, and his tactical mindset took over his brain.

"Hey Jack, get up." he said rather emotionlessly, smacking his sleeping friend friend with his black hoof.

"Wha?! Argh…dammit Colin, don't do that!" The pale unicorn grumbled, rubbing his head.

"Ja, ja, whatever. Something's going on at town square, let's go get Robert and regroup with the others." Shadow replied, trotting out the door.

"Alright, fair enough." Inferno mumbled, following suite.

/

As the two former humans neared Sweet Apple Acres, they saw somepony they had never seen before: A small yellow-coated filly with red hair, amber eyes, and a giant pink bow. The most surprising thing however, was the fact she had no cutie mark whatsoever. "Hello there, could you tell us where Blazing Streak is?" Inferno asked politely.

"Who are you two?" The filly replied in a southern-accented voice, similar to Applejack's.

"I'm Inferno, and this is Shadow Storm, we're friends of Applejack and Streak." "

I presume you're her sister?" Shadow asked.

"Yup! Ah'm Applebloom! And Streak is over there." She replied, pointing towards the farmhouse, where a certain green earth pony had just walked out of.

"Hey guys, whats up?" He asked with his usual grin.

"Something's going on at town square. We're gonna go check it out, and figured you should come too." Shadow replied.

"In case we need a meat shield." Inferno added jokingly.

"Buck you." Streak grumbled, smiling, "It's been getting kinda boring around here…with no Call of Duty…Gah, I was _SO CLOSE _to getting the diamond ballistic knife!" He exclaimed angrily, remembering what sadly didn't exist in Equestria.

"And I'm starting to miss Minecraft…and Halo…" Shadow added solemnly.

"Well, of course none of this could be real and we're actually in a coma…or insane…" Inferno muttered.

The three former humans then noticed a crowd of ponies walking towards the center of town.

"C'mon, let's go and do what we originally intended to." Shadow said, following the crowd with his now-finished DG-4 slung over his back.

"That's what she said." Inferno muttered just loud enough for his friends to hear him, and was met with a hoof to the face. The three former humans walked through the thick crowd that was gathering in from of a stage that seemed to have been put up a few hours ago.

"Kinda small, don't you think?" Streak asked Inferno.

"Yes, and that's what she said." He replied in a tone that was impossible to take seriously. Before Streak could make a remark and/or hit him, a feminine voice rang out from the stage.

"Come one, come all! Come and witness the amazing magic of the Great and Powerful Trixie!" A blue unicorn with a silver mane and tail wearing a wizard hat and cape exclaimed as she appeared on the stage, earning cheers from the audience, "Watch in awe as the Great and Powerful Trixie performs the most spectacular feats of magic ever witnessed by pony eyes!"

_**"Kill her. Kill her now. Please."**_The voices said in annoyance.

"I wish I could." Shadow grunted under his breath.

"What did you say?" Inferno asked in confusion.

"Just saying how I'm having that sudden urge to cut things again." The pegasus replied, half-lying. "

I mean, _really!_" Blaze said, getting angrier by the second, "She even has to refer to herself in third person!? Who even _does _that!?"

Looking around, the trio saw Twilight, Rarity, and the others, and walked towards them.

/

"Just because one has the ability to perform lots of magic doesn't make one better than the rest of us!" Rarity said to Twilight, extremely annoyed.

"Especially when you have me being better than the rest of…" Dash stopped upon seeing Shadow Storm, "Uh, I mean…magic shmagic! Boo!"

"Well it seems we have some _neigh_sayers in the audience! Who is so _ignorant _as to challenge the magical ability of the Great and Powerful Trixie? Do they not know that they're in the presence of the most magical unicorn in all of Equestria?" Trixie asked the crowd.

"NOPE! Not at all!" Blaze yelled out of nowhere, causing Trixie to glare at him, her eye twitching.

"And besides, Twilight here is…" Inferno started, but was cut off by the unicorn in question.

"Inferno! Shhh!" She whispered frantically.

"What, what's wrong?" The former human asked.

"You see the way they reacted to Trixie? I don't want anypony thinking that I'm a showoff!" Twilight replied.

The two unicorns turned towards the stage as Streak asked a very good question.

"Hey, Weak and Pitiful Trixie! What makes you think YOU'RE so bucking' cool, huh?"

"Heh, why, only the _Great _and _Powerful _Trixie has magic strong enough to vanquish the dreaded Ursa Major!" She exclaimed.

"A bear?" Shadow asked, unimpressed, "I could do the same thing, just give me knife. Like back at my seventh birthday party, right guys?" He asked the other former humans, whom had gained nervous looks on their faces.

_**"Ah, good times…"**_

"Oh dear lord…there was so much blood…" Streak murmured, shivering slightly.

"There was brain matter on the ceiling, stomach acid spilling out on the carpet, blood all over the walls, it was a mess!" Shadow said, the surrounding ponies becoming nauseous.

"And everyone in the room had an errection…" Inferno added.

"But, enough about my childhood." Shadow said nonchalantly, "What were you going to say, Trixie?"

After an awkward silence, Trixie finally remembered what she wanted to say.

"As Trixie was saying, when all hope was lost, the ponies of Hoofington has no one to turn to, but the Great and Powerful Trixie stepped in, and with her _awesome_ magic, vanquished the Ursa Major and sent it back to it's cave deep within the Everfree Forest." She explained dramatically, using her magic to make a little screen showing a crude Trixie chasing away a giant blue bear.

"That settles it." A small, pudgy, blue unicorn said.

"Trixie truly is the most talented, the most magical, the most awesome unicorn in Ponyville." A slightly taller, orange unicorn agreed.

"No, in all of Equestria!" The blue unicorn corrected.

"How do you know? You didn't see it! And besides, Twi- Mmph! Mmphh!" Spike began speaking up for Twilight, but the unicorn in question had turned his mouth into a closed zipper.

"[laughs] It's true, my enthusiastic little admirers. Trixie is most certainly the best in Ponyville." She gloated to the crowd, which met her with silence.

"Prove it. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof." Shadow demanded,

"Don't believe the Great and Powerful Trixie?" She asked, chuckling, "Well then, I nearby challenge you Ponyvillians: Anything you can do, I can do better. Any takers? Or is Trixie destined to be the greatest equine that ever lived?!" She announced arrogantly.

"Please! She's unbearable! Ya gotta show her! Ya just gotta!" Spike pleaded to Twilight, crying slightly.

"Yeah Twi, your the most talented unicorn I've ever seen!" Inferno added.

Just as Twilight was about to respond, Trixie spoke.

"How about…_you_!?" Trixie pointed directly at Twilight, who gulped, "Well, how about it? Is there anything you can do that the Great and Powerful Trixie can't?"

"I-I…" She stammered, trying to find a way out of the situation.

"Well, little hayseed?" Trixie mocked.

That was it. Inferno's horn began glowing intensely, an angry look on his face He was sick and tired of this prick and wanted to put her in her sorry place. Just as the former human was about to step up and challenge Trixie, he was interrupted by Applejack doing the same.

"That's enough! Ah' can't stand for no more of this!" She shouted, infuriated.

"You show her, A.J.!" Spike cheered supportively from the crowd.

"Can your magical powers do this?" A.J. asked as she performed an impressive assortment of lasso tricks, grabbing an apple from a tree and eating it as her finale. "Top that, missy." She said smugly, the crowd cheering.

"Oh ye of little talent. Watch and be amazed at the magic of Trixie." The unicorn in question said, raising her hat to reveal her horn, which was glowing with a pink aura that also surrounded a rope on the ground.

A.J. followed the rope with her eyes in a mesmerized way as it moved around like a cobra.

"Uh…A.J.?" Streak called, unsure of what was going on.

Suddenly, the other end of the rope coiled around the cowpony's legs, hogtied them together, lifted her off the ground upside down, and shoved an apple in her mouth. The crowd cheered at Trixie's crude performance while A.J. hopped down the stage, still tied up.

Rainbow, who had an angry look on her face, decided it was time to shut Trixie up, once and for all.

"There's no need to go struttin' around and shown' off like that." She said angrily.

"Oh?" Trixie replied.

"That's my job." Launching herself in the air before Trixie could reply, Dash streaked toward a windmill and did several loops around the rudders, using the momentum to surge upwards, punching holes through several clouds, and stopped right in front of the sun, casting a shadow on the crowd. But she wasn't finished yet. She then dove down back through the holes she had made in the clouds, causing the moisture in them to follow her. As her grand finale, Dash looped back around the windmill and shot towards the stage, stopping dead in her tracks. A couple seconds later, the moisture that had been following her hit her and caused a rainbow to appear over her head. "They don't call me RAINBOW and DASH for nothing." She said confidently. If Shadow was a snake, his jaw would have detached and fallen to the ground. He didn't even think it was POSSIBLE to do something like that, but it happened; Dash had possibly broken several of motion, and had done like a badass. She _definitely_ deserved to be a wonderbolt.

"GO RAINBOW DASH!" He cheered as loud as he could within the crowd, which was also going wild for the cyan pegasus.

Rainbow turned in his direction and smiled, happy to see him and the others so supportive. However, Trixie only smirked.

"When Trixie is through, the only thing they'll ever call you is looser." Focusing her magic, she made the rainbow above Dash spin around her in a multicolored cyclone which picked her up and started spinning her around in the air rapidly. As the cyclone stopped, Rainbow landed in front of the Mane 6 and the former humans, dizzy and embarrassed. Suddenly, Trixie summoned a small storm cloud that electrocuted her with a miniature lightning bolt, which caused Trixie and the audience to laugh. Shadow's eyes narrowed; Trixie had gone to far. But as the former human reached for his weapon, the voices began screaming at him with their trademark demonic edge.

_**"STOP COLIN! DO YOU WANT TO COMPROMISE EVERYTHING!? PUT EVERYTHING THAT YOU HAVE BEEN WORKING ON AT RISK!? DO YOU WANT TO HAVE ANOTHER INCIDENT?! Because if you screw this up…THERE WILL BE!"**_The voices screamed deafeningly, causing the former human to clutch his head slightly while lowering his hoof from the Wunderwaffe. _**"Good…" **_The voices said, _**"Then again, if there was another one, it would be QUITE enthralling!" **_They finished, laughing psychopathically.

"What we need is another unicorn to challenge her!" Spike said to Twilight, "Someone with magic of their own!"

"Yeah!" Dash agreed angrily. "A unicorn to show this unicorn who's boss!"

"A real unicorn to unicorn tussle!" A.J. added.

"Uh…well…" Twilight replied. She didn't want to do this! If she did show off her magic, all her friends would hate her! Pinkie, Inferno, Rarity, everypony! However, before she could respond properly, Rarity interrupted.

"Enough! Enough, all of you. I Take your hint, but Rarity is above such nonsense! Applejack and Rainbow Dash may behave like ruffians, but Rarity conducts herself with beauty and grace."

Trixie just smirked. "What's the matter? Afraid you'll get a hair out of place in that rat's nest you call a mane?"

That was it. Trixie had just crossed the forsaken line.

"It. Is. On." Rarity said, narrowing her gaze and walking up onto the stage, "You may think your'e tough with all of your so called powers, but there's more to magic than your brutish ways! A unicorn needs to be more than just muscle! A unicorn needs to have style!" Pulling off one of the stage curtains with her magic, Rarity proceeded to rapidly spin it around her, tailoring, cutting, and decorating it at phenomenal speeds. When she was finished, the curtain had been transformed into a beautiful dress which she was wearing proudly, and a styled mane finished the look. "A unicorn is not a unicorn without grace and beauty." She said confidently. Trixie however, simply began casting another spell.

"Rarity won't let Trixie get the best of her!" Spike said to the crowd, "She's strong, she's beautiful, she's…" Before Spike could finish, Trixie had cast her spell, which had changed Rarity's normally purple mane into a sickly green color. The crowd gasped in horror.

"_I need a mirror! Get me a mirror!" _Rarity almost screamed, "What did she do to my hair? I know she did something terrible to my hair!"

"Nothing!" Twilight said unconvincingly.

"It's…fine!" Rainbow lied.

"It's gorgeous!" Applejack added.

"It's green…" Spike said, causing Shadow to face hoof and the others to glare at him, "…what?"

"No!" Rarity wailed. "Not green hair! Such an awful, awful color!" She cried through tears as she galloped from the stage.

"Hah!" Trixie laughed. "It seems The Great and Powerful Trixie prevails once more! Was there ever any doub-" She started, but was cut of by a certain unicorn.

"You know what, SHUT UP! Just SHUT UP you bitch!" Inferno shouted, teleporting onto the stage, absolutely enraged.

Shocked, Trixie quickly regained her composure. "Oh, and who might you be?" She asked with a smug smile.

"Inferno." He replied coldly, showing no signs of backing down.

"Well," Trixie said, "Trixie believes it is time to put this inferior on his place, yes?" She asked, which was met with a few cheers from the audience.

_Don't count on it._ Inferno thought.

nferno had dealt with many, many jerks over the years, dealt with their ego, their arrogance, and their pathetic need for attention, but never in his life had he met anyone, or anypony in this case that went to such measures to try and assert themselves as superior. But he didn't give two shits about who this pony was: Trixie was going down once and for all. Deciding to scare him away, Trixie concentrated her magic and made a layer of black, swirling storm clouds, thunder blaring and lightning streaking out. Trixie concentrated more, and the ground also began shaking. Most of the crowd began murmuring nervously, but Inferno just grinned. Compressing all of his magic in the tip of his horn, Inferno aimed it at the center of the "storm" and a small streak of red lighting shot out and into the sky. As the bolt came in contact with the clouds however, the center of the sky _combusted _in a fiery, violent explosion, evaporating the surrounding clouds with the heat. Trixie gawked at the scene, her muzzle agape. Inferno's smile only grew; he wasn't finished yet. His horn began glowing brighter and brighter, all the energy forcing itself on the tip. He then closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and fired a massive crimson shockwave that when it hit the center of the storm, set almost the entire sky on _fire_, the blaze spreading rapidly to the other clouds, causing them to blow up. Trixie was now lying on the ground covering her face with her hat and muttering something unintelligible. Inferno then shot a blue mana beam that made the flaming clouds disappear, restoring the sky to it's original state. Now the whole crowd was staring up at the sky in silence, including all of his friends.

"Wha…what the _buck _was that?" Trixie asked, completely flabbergasted.

"THAT, Weak and Pitiful Trixie, was basic Pyromancy." He replied with a smirk.

Suddenly, the audience erupted in cheering; Trixie had been _nothing _compared to the former human.

Having had enough, the mare in question ran off the stage, humiliated. As soon as she left, the crowd exploded in cheering once more, and Inferno's friends walked up on the stage.

"Dude…you crushed that bitch!" Streak said, grinning.

"I'm glad you put that prick in her place. And pulling a Roy Mustang at the same time doesn't hurt!" Shadow added, brohoofing his friend.

"How long have you been able to do that?" Twilight asked in awe.

"Weeeell…I winged it." Inferno replied, smiling sheepishly.

"And doing that has made you 20% cooler in my book!" Dash declared.

"So that makes him -8981% cool?" Shadow joked, earning a laugh from his friends.

"C'mon guys, lets go to Sugarcube Corner, I'm starving!" Streak called, trotting toward said building.

"Just don't tell Pinkie about-" Inferno began, but was interrupted by the pony in question popping out of nowhere.

"YAY! TIME FOR A PARTY!"

/

The three former humans walked through the streets of Ponyville, admiring the night sky. They and their friend had scored a big victory when Inferno used his magic to put Trixie in her place, and they had a huge party afterwards, courtesy of Pinkie, and now they were heading back to their respective homes.

"Sooo…ever wonder why everypony is so afraid of the Everfree forest? I mean, we've been there before." Inferno asked, breaking the silence.

"I dunno maybe it's because-" Streak started, but was cut off by somepony yelling and a loud stomping sound.

"What was that?" Shadow asked.

Turning around, they noticed two young unicorns; Trixie's little fanboys screaming for help and running for their lives.

"Hey you two!" Streak called, "What's going on?"

"A MAJOR problem!" The blue colt replied, still running.

They turned around in horror only to see a _gargantuan _blue bear that seemed to be made of the night sky, not unlike Nightmare Moon's mane, exactly how Trixie had described it.

"I think it's safe to say we're all gonna die…why does kind of this stuff always always happen to us specifically?" Inferno mumbled.

"Because the author is a sick, sadistic, son of a bitch…" Streak replied.

"That's true, but that doesn't mean we're dying." Shadow countered, pulling out the DG-4 and igniting the tesla bulbs, aiming it at the bear's face.

"What the buck are you doing!?" Streak asked frantically.

"I'm incinerating it's brain, what else?" He replied. Concentrating, Shadow aligned the Wunderwaffe's sights with the Ursa's forehead, and pulled the trigger. A giant bolt of gold lighting erupted from the DG-4, and hit the Ursa square between the eyes, and electrocuted it. But much to the former human's horror, it only seemed to enrage the beast further, causing it to charge straight at them, it huge steps rattling the town.

"I think I'm gonna need a bigger gun…" Shadow muttered, turning around and galloping in the other direction, his friends following. The Ursa began to quicken it's pace, and the lights inside Ponyville's buildings began to turn on, signifying that the town's resident's were waking up. Inferno turned around only to see the Monster raise one of it's giant paws and bring it down with tremendous force. The attack would have killed the three colts if Inferno hadn't summoned a barrier around them. The giant bear struggled against the shield, but the unicorn put more power into it, causing the shield to rapidly expand and knock the Ursa backwards.

"STREAK!" Shadow shouted. "Go wake everypony up! Make sure everyone knows what's going on!"

Streak's expression hardened, and the earth pony nodded, making a beeline for town hall. "Inferno, try and hold it off! I…have a plan."

"Understood." The unicorn in question replied, turning around to face the Ursa, which had recovered from the previous attack. Shadow then spread his wings and took off toward towards his workshop.

/

Shadow Storm frantically attempted to unlock the door, but had to resort to blowing it off it's hinges with one of his death cannons to save time. He galloped in the main room and looked at the project he had been working on for so long. If it got destroyed, he would have nothing to present to the government, and things could go downhill. But if he didn't use it, he would loose his friends. There was no contest. He quickly completed the starting procedures and powered up the device. It was time to go bear hunting.

/

The best way Inferno could describe the beast would be a giant, translucent bear that looked like a night sky. The Ursa stood roughly a hundred yards away, having been forced back by Inferno's barrier. He turned his head to see Blaze and the Mane 6 keeping order among the town's residents and leading them away. The bear seemed to have calmed down somewhat, and was now moving toward him slowly, almost as if it wasn't sure if he was dangerous or not. Unfortunately, the bear began to pick up speed, and broke into a full run, charging at him. Inferno inhaled deeply and cast his most powerful barrier spell, pushing the Ursa back a second time, enraging it further. As it hit the shield, Inferno felt a sharp pain in his head, almost as if it was being poked with a hot iron. His mind shifted back to one of his magic lessons where Twilight had taught him how certain spells drained the energy of the caster if he or she kept on using that spell. He looked up in horror to find the urea on it's back legs, ready to slam it's front paws down to break his shield. He would probably knock him unconscious. Then, he had an idea. As the monster swung it's legs down, Inferno dispelled the barrier, causing the bear to slam on the ground, making something that was comparable to an earthquake. Inferno took the chance and launched a bolt of red lighting that exploded on contact with the Ursa's blue hide. As the smoke cleared, Inferno saw to his horror that the bear was now charging at him, more angry than ever. He summoned another shield, but the Ursa simply _launched _itself at the shield, shattering it. Collapsing and forcing himself to remain conscious, Inferno saw the Ursa open it's ugly maw, exposing rows of gigantic, razor sharp teeth. _Looks like…the end of the road…_ Inferno thought, coughing up blood. But before the Ursa could end him, a familiar purple aura surrounded the monster's jaws and forced them shut, cracking some teeth in the process. Inferno weakly turned around to see his savior, none other than Twilight. An _angry _Twilight. The Ursa tried once more to reach them, but it's effort was proven to be in vain as Twilight pushed it back with a purple shockwave. While the monster was distracted, Twilight teleported Inferno and herself behind a large tree, hoping to confuse it.

"Are…you alright?" She asked in concern.

"Define 'alright'." Inferno replied, smiling. But pain shot through his skull once more, causing him to clutch his head. "I-I got a lot of my power sapped from me when that bastard shattered my shield…" He added in a strained voice. "I…need to stop this thing…" Inferno grunted as he tried to get back up.

"No, you wait here._ I'll _handle this." Twilight assured as she teleported back out in the open, where she used a restraining spell to hold it in place, confidant it would work. But, it seemed that the Element of Rage itself was pouring into the Ursa: It began pushing harder than ever before with pure _power_, closing the distance between them and breaking Twilight's spell. With every step the monster took, Twilight felt herself get weaker. She tried to keep the spell up, but the monster was just too powerful, so she stopped the spell allowing herself a moment to breathe. But at that moment, the Ursa charged Twillight, and she was forced to erect a shield, on which the bear mercilessly pounded on. When the bear rammed it's thick skull into the barrier, it finally shattered, and Twilight collapsed.

_I just hope everypony made it… _She thought, shutting her eyes and waiting for the inevitable.

/

Inferno watched Twilight laying as helpless as he was. He hated not being able to save her, hated not being able to save himself. He watched the Ursa open it's ugly maw, and he closed his eyes. He couldn't bear to watch.

But instead, he heard the roar of an engine and a pained cry from the Ursa. Inferno opened his eyes to see a giant armored figure standing in front of him and Twilight that seemed…familiar; The black, gold visored helmet, the various weapons covering the armor, and the jet pack…then it clicked. He remembered the time back on earth when he and Colin had watched Halo Legends…in one episode…prototype was it? Yes. It was that exact armor, the only difference was the fact it was built for a pony. And there was only one equine in this universe who could get his/her hooves on something like that.

**"Inferno, Twilight, stand down." **Shadow called from within the suit, his voice slightly distorted from the microphone, **"Ignore the Ursa, I have it covered. Just make sure nothing happens to the town's residents." **

At that moment, the Ursa attempted to rake it's new target with it's razor sharp claws, but as the bear's paw got near Shadow, a bubble shield appeared around his armor, deflecting the blow. A long blade then slid out of the suit's left wrist, and and Shadow charged the ursa, impaling it in the monster's foreleg. Before the bear could attack him again, he withdrew the blade and sidestepped the Ursa's attack and proceeded to jump back and pull up his T261 Lucifer Arm-Mounted Gatling gun. The armored pegasus aligned his Heads Up Display with the Ursa, and watched the six barrels begin to spin rapidly, and begin spewing out bullets. Due to the Ursa's natural resistance to force, the heavy rounds did not immediately puncture it's tough hide, but several were able to, wounding the bear, but not fatally. After depleting roughly a quarter of his ammunition, Shadow ceased the hail of lead, deciding not to waste any more bullets and instead reached up and pulled down the M149 Magellen Recoilless Rifle on the suit's back, and attempted to depress the monsters skull with the constant fire of the rifle's heavy rounds, but once more, no fatal injuries were brought apron the beast.

Shadow didn't expect the Ursa to be so resilient, being able to withstand multiple anti-armor rounds. He had been working for several weeks on this project to present to his boss, , and here he was, using the prototype to fight an oversized bear. But in all honesty, he didn't care anymore. His sole goal at the moment was to turn this bear into a mound of molten guts. The fate of the whole _town_ was at stake here, and he wasn't about to let everypony die just because he had to keep the suit intact for work. His mind snapped back to reality when he saw the Ursa right in his face, preparing to have another go on his shield. As the monster pounded on the bubble shield, Shadow managed to escape it's grasp with his jet pack, flying into the sky, but it was to late: The Ursa had managed to temporarily deactivate his shield and flung him to the ground, proceeding to charge the former human once more. Getting up from his collapsed position, Shadow saw the Ursa making a beeline for him, it's jaws opened wide. It was at that moment Shadow remembered the three Type 18 Bayonet-Style Claymore's on the suits belt. Not hesitating, Shadow used the suit's mechanical hand to grab one of the claymores, prime it, and as the Ursa was right in his face, drive the steel spike through the roof of it's mouth, and use his jetpack to get out of the blast radius. **"GET DOWN!" **Shadow shouted, activating his shields around himself and his friends as they watched the Ursa frantically claw the inside of it's mouth in a vain attempt to remove the bomb. At that moment, the claymore detonated, engulfing the gigantic bear in a fiery explosion. As the smoke cleared, Shadow, Inferno, and Twilight saw the charred husk that used to be the Ursa.

"Is it…you know…" Twilight asked.

**"Yeah. It's defintely dead." **Shadow replied.

"So, you've been working on that thing this whole time?" Inferno asked in disbelief.

**"Affirmative. I was going to show it to my other associates… but then the Ursa attacked. At least there are only a few dents and scratches here and there…nothing too bad." **All of a sudden, Shadow snapped up, **"There's something on my motion trackers that's heading our way! Something HUGE." **

"Bigger than the Ursa Major!?" Inferno asked in disbelief.

"You guys don't get it!" Twilight interrupted, "That thing you just killed was and Ursa MINOR; A baby! It's parent is probably close by!" She exclaimed frantically.

**"Oh shit." **Shadow cursed as the Major's gigantic footsteps rang out from the Everfree. Then, a simply primeval roar filled the air and the Ursa Major lumbered out of the forest. If the Ursa Minor was bad, the Major was a nightmare: For starters, it was easily five times the Minor's size, it's coat was a deathly purple, you could see it's rock-hard muscles from under it, it's teeth and claws were FAR longer, and it was enraged beyond comprehension because of it's cub's murder.

Almost immediately, Shadow began firing his gatling gun in a hope that it would at least incapacitate the monster, but the bullets were _deflected_ off the bears seemingly impenetrable hide. Shadow kept on shooting, until the worst thing possible happened.

_Clic_k.

He quickly checked his HUD, to find his gatling gun's ammo indicator at 0.

Looking over at the Minor's charred corpse, the Major's eyes widened with feral bloodlust and it charged straight at him.

Shadow attempted to impede the Ursa's progress by firing all five of the suit's LAU-1810/SGM-151 rockets at the beast, but despite injuries it received, it just kept on going, blinded by it's desire for vengeance. The Major brought one of it's gigantic, clawed paws to the side and swung it at full force, severely damaging Shadow's shields. Another blow from the bear completely shattered the shields, and sent Shadow flying for nearly a hundred yards before he skidded to a halt.

Resisting the urge to black out, Shadow righted himself, facing the Major. He had the coppery taste of blood in his mouth, and at least five bones in his body had been broken in the impact. To top that, the suit's bubble shield generators had been crushed along with the right side of his armor. Activating his jet pack, Shadow rocketed toward the Ursa and slammed into it, knocking it over for a small period of time in which he peppered it with rounds from his recoilless rifle, causing smoke to fill the area.

_Where is that bastard…_ Shadow thought. Suddenly, a red dot appeared from behind him on his motion trackers.

The armored pegasus spun around only to be greeted with the sight of the Major's gigantic paw as it slammed down, through his energy shields and almost through his armor. As soon as he hit the ground, Shadow coughed up a glob of blood inside his helmet, obscuring his already cracked visor, and could feel the blood seeping out of his various wounds, especially the one on his right side where the Ursa had first hit.

Through his mostly blood-caked and cracked visor, Shadow was able to see the Ursa Major raise it's other paw, and slam down once more, tripling the already excruciating pain in his body. The bear then opened it's ugly, fang filled maw and _bit _Shadow, lifting him in the air and rattling him back and forth like a chew toy. He couldn't help it. Shadow screamed, screamed in agony. He just wanted to _die _already. The Ursa, almost as if it had read his mind, cocked it's mighty head to the side and flung Shadow away, his injured form skidding on the grassy ground before coming to a stop. Was this the end? Would he die and go to cartoon heaven? Or cartoon hell? Or would he just wake up in his room back on earth? No, he had done to much here, this couldn't be a dream. The former human peered through his cracked visor to see Inferno and Twilight, having recovered somewhat, attempting to hold off the Ursa Major.

_We're screwed..._

/

Inferno watched in horror as the Ursa Major bit down on Shadow's armored form, his friend screaming in pure agony, and watched as it flung him away like an unwanted chew toy, the Element of Death crumpling in a burnt, metal heap. The Ursa then turned around and glared at Twilight, baring it's teeth and slowly walking forward, picking up speed by the second.

"NO!" He shouted. "YOU'RE NOT GETTING HER TOO YOU SON OF A BITCH!" The pale unicorn then shot a stream of searing flame from his horn, attempting to draw the bear's fire.

The Ursa turned to face him, and all of a sudden the feral bloodlust that was in it's eyes when it had fought Shadow returned in an instant, and the gigantic beast let out a deafening roar as it charged. Inferno summoned another barrier, causing the Ursa to begin laying waste at the shield, cracking it. Just as the Ursa Major was about to make It's final blow, another magical aura surrounded his shield, adding to it and preventing it from cracking. Inferno looked to the side only to find Twilight smiling weakly, a purple aura around her horn.

"No…don't…" The former human pleaded.

Ignoring his protests, Twilight began concentrating her power, causing the shield to begin expanding and crackle with energy. But then something unexpected happened: The Ursa Major's eyes began glowing pure white, braced itself, and with almost _godlike _strength shattered both shields, causing the exhausted Twilight to faint. The Ursa's eyes stopped glowing and the monster began lumbering toward the unconscious Element of Magic.

"No…no…NO!" Inferno shouted angrily. WHY wasn't the Element of hope working? WHY couldn't he save anypony? WHY did he have to be completely USELESS?! Even if he was able to kill the Ursa, it would be at the cost of Twilight's life, and he wouldn't be able to live with himself if that happened.

/

Shadow watched in horror as the Ursa Major headed toward an unconscious Twilight with the intent of snuffing out her light. How did the Minor get in Ponyville in the first place? Did Trixie's fanboys wake it up during it's nap or something?

_I swear to all things dark and wretched, if I get out of this alive, I'm going to castrate them with a pencil…And kill them. _He thought to himself.

Speaking of death, Shadow assumed he was going to bleed out eventually; In perhaps…five minutes? With that time you could fire several full sized MAC cannons...

…_Wait…MAC cannons?_ Shadow suddenly remembered the most significant addition to the prototype suit: A scaled-down magnetic accelerator cannon just next to the rocket tubes on the suit's back. While mostly experimental, he had originally planned to present it to his superiors, and had loaded it with a sole ferric-tungsten slug, which _would _penetrate the Ursa's hide…yes, this was what he had to do. Even if the recoil didn't kill him, he would bleed to death from his various wounds anyway.

He began the MAC firing sequence, which by some miracle had not been destroyed in the Ursa's assault. He could feel the MAC's magnetic accelerators vibrate, and heard the computer's voice ring out within the suit. _"_

_MAC cannon preparation complete. Fire when ready." _

Shadow took a deep breath, aligned his HUD with the Ursa and fired the MAC.

As he expected, the recoil was horrifying, and because of the suit's damage, caused parts of it to snap off, along with his right shoulder, which had been violently torn out of it's socket, earning a cry of pain from him. When he was able to open his eyes, Shadow looked to see a beach ball-sized hole going through the Ursa's shoulder, and part of it's back. But his hopes sank as he saw the beast continue it's pursuit, almost incapacitated and severely injured, but alive. He then caught sight of Inferno who had a strange white aura surrounding him, facing the Ursa Major. The red-maned unicorn began rising into the air, the white aura becoming brighter. The former human took a deep breath, and closed his eyes. What took Shadow by surprise, however was that when Inferno opened his eyes; His usual emerald irises they had been replaced by two glowing, white voids.

The white aura surrounding him began to be absorbed by his horn, all of the energy concentrated on the tip. Inferno pointed his horn at the Ursa, which was almost apoon him, and made the most powerful display of magic he had ever witnessed: A white beam of pure mana so HUGE and absurdly powerful that it put anything else to shame _exploded _from Inferno's horn enveloping everything in a blinding white light.

When the brightness subsided, Shadow saw that the Ursa was…gone. There was no sign of a body, or anything of that matter. It was just…gone with no trace.

Shadow saw Inferno float down and open his eyes, which had turned back to their normal form.

"What…happened? Where's the Ursa Major?" He asked, rubbing his head. "I think I know." A familiar voice said. At that moment, a golden ball of light appeared, and when it faded away revealed several ponies, including the Princess. "Princess!" He exclaimed, bowing in front of them. Shadow also noticed the group of ponies wearing black suits and shades, each with a badge that read "601". Perfect.

"I would…a-appreciate some assistance.,." The dying pegasus groaned, earning Celestia's attention.

"Oh dear!" She exclaimed, flying over to him, "Here, allow me to heal you." The Solar Princess comforted, a golden aura surrounding her horn.

At that second, the former human felt his bones begin to come back together and move to their correct positions, his various gashes began to close, and the pain disappeared.

He then proceeded to release the suit's seals and crawl out of the armor. As he stepped out, and the Princess gasped, and Shadow looked down to find himself still covered with fresh blood.

_I…should get that cleaned up… _He thought, thinking how the others would react to him looking like a walking murder scene. His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Inferno as he spoke with Celestia.

"Princess! the Ursas! T-they came here and-" He began, but was cut off by her.

"Don't worry, Spike was able to send me a message describing the disaster. Everypony is safe at town hall. Speaking of my little ponies, you should go and see them, I imagine that they must be worried about you all."

"First I need a question answered," Inferno said, "Who the hay are these guys?!" He asked, pointing at the suited ponies.

"Well, I think I can answer your question." Shadow replied, earning a stunned look from his friend.

"You know these guys Shadow?" Inferno asked in disbelief.

"Correct, these are some of my superiors; members of Group 601."

"Princess, how did the Ursa Major disappear? It just makes no sense!"

"Inferno," Celestia said, smiling, "_You _were the one who vanquished the Ursa Major. It seems you are much more proficient at magic than I thought, perhaps more so than Twilight when she was still learning!"

"It's true." Shadow confirmed, "Your eyes started glowing and then you fired a giant white laser that evaporated the Major on the Spot! I think Twilight might be a little jealous!" He chuckled.

Speaking of Twilight, the purple unicorn was beginning to stir, groaning and rubbing her head. As soon as she saw the Princess however, she immediately snapped to attention.

"Princess Celestia!" She exclaimed happily.

"Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student." Celestia replied in a motherly tone.

"But…what happened? Where's the Ursa? Is eveypony okay-" She started frantically but her mentor held up a hoof, silencing her.

"Everything is fine Twilight, Inferno was able to defeat the Ursa Major when a spike in his mana network appeared, temporarily pushing his magic abilities off the charts."

Twilight's jaw almost hit the ground as she heard this little tidbit of info: Her STUDENT had just vanquished an URSA MAJOR singlehoofedly? Was it even possible for a unicorn to have THAT much raw ability?!

Her thoughts were interrupted by Shadow, whom had the blood covering him washed off with a cleaning spell.

"C'mon, are friends aren't gonna brag to themselves!" He called, taking off toward Ponyville.

/

Blazing Streak had seen Shadow rocketing over Ponyville at top speed in some kind of armor, and from what he heard, had killed the Ursa Minor. He thought that Shadow could handle the situation, but that fell apart when the Ursa Major came and…he didn't want to think about it.

Streak galloped toward town hall, where most of eveypony was, all of them in panic.

"Streak!" Rainbow Dash shouted over the crowd, "What's going on? Where the hay are Shadow, Twilight and Inferno?"

As he was about to respond, the crowd got louder and louder, preventing his words from being heard.

Suddenly, a gargantuan white laser tore through the sky, silencing the crowd. The former human quickly hopped up by the podium and began speaking to the terrified crowd.

"Citizens of Ponyville, the recent events that you have been called here because of have been caused by two monsters, an Ursa Minor and an Ursa Major! We need to get everypony out of here! While Twilight Sparkle, Inferno, and Shadow Storm were able to…dispatch the Minor, the Major arrived and…killed Shadow. We're not sure if Twilight and Inferno shared his fate…but let's not make their sacrifice be in vain." He announced solemly, tears building up in his eyes.

As the crowd exploded in panic, Rainbow Dash simply stood there, resisting the urge to cry. Shadow was dead? They had been on good turns for barely even a day, and now he was gone.

She wished that…that they could have made up earlier. Most of the time she had known him, she had hated his guts…and now he was gone… And at that thought, she began sobbing.

Dash was so caught up in her own sorrow that she didn't notice the three ponies who had just arrived. "Hey Skittles…you okay?" Shadow asked, an eyebrow raised, Twilight and Inferno standing behind him. Slowly turning around, she simply gawked at the three supposedly dead ponies, whom had seemingly come back from the grave.

"Your'e…_alive?!" _Blaze asked in disbelief.

So they thought he was dead. It made sense because the last thing they had heard from him was that agonized scream.

All of a sudden, the crowd erupted in cheering, except for Trixie, who was running out of town for her life, and Dash, who just kept standing there.

After a few minutes of congratulation and celebration, the crowd began to thin out, while the elements of harmony (Except Dash) and the Reality Trio were talking about the day, Shadow explaining the inner workings of hydrogen bombs and Twilight, Inferno, and Rarity discussing their plans for the Gala.

"You sure you're alright Skittles?" Shadow joked.

This guy. This guy was just…Wow.

Dash had no idea what to do or say at this point, so she decided to go with old reliable.

Rainbow proceeded to turn around…and kick Shadow in the face full-force.

"NIPPLESCROTUMS!" He cried as he clutched his bleeding muzzle, "You know what, I've changed my mind. You should've let me bleed to death…" He groaned, Inferno and Blaze almost dying from laughter.

"Don't EVER scare me like that again!" Dash threatened.

"And what about Inferno?" Shadow asked, unhappy that his friend was going to go home free.

"Oh yes, I almost forgot!" Twilight said with a smile, and proceeded to fire a magic beam at her student, causing him to crash into a building.

"Heh, life would be pretty damn boring without us constantly getting hurt and blowing stuff up, am I right?" Blaze asked cheerfully, earning laughs from his friends.

**Make sure to leave constructive criticism, rate, comment, and review.**

**This is ZeroKnight115, over and out.**


	9. Dragonshy

Chapter 9: Dragonshy

It was a bright and sunny day in Ponyville, the only remittance of the "Major" incident the day before being a large crater near the ever free, courtesy of Shadow Storm, who was taking a day off, and was sparring with Inferno near the outskirts of town, where unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies enjoyed the day and carried on with their businesses.

Shadow had armed himself with a pair of 2 1/2 foot retractable wrist mounted blades, while Inferno wielded a single three-foot longsword with his magic.

The two had been training for roughly an hour, blades clashing, swinging, thrusting, lunging, parrying, and feinting rapidly, neither of them giving up.

Inferno's concentration was broken by the sight of Fluttershy, who seemed to be trying to tell the town's residents something, but he couldn't hear her.

Shadow used this to his advantage and rammed into the unicorn, both blades pointed at his throat.

"What's got you so distracted?" Shadow asked, retracting his blades and standing up.

"Fluttershy's trying to tell the residents something…we might as well find out what." Inferno replied, sheathing his sword.

Shadow observed that Streak was with Fluttershy, most likely trying to help her, and getting frustrated that nopony was listening.

"Help. Help! Please? There's-there's a horrible cloud of smoke. It's headed this way and-AHH!" Fluttershy squeaked as she ducked the ball that came straight at her.

They then saw Rainbow Dash, who was bouncing said ball on her head.

"Don't be such a scaredy-pony. It's just me. Future Equestria ball-bouncing record holder! Two forty six, two forty seven…" The Pegasus counted.

"This calls for a celebration!" Pinkie announced, popping out from absolutely nowhere.

"No, Pinkie Pie, this is no time for celebrations, this is a time for panic, for-" Fluttershy began quietly, only to be interrupted by her pink friend.

"Ooo! I'm going to need balloons! One for every pony in Ponyville!" The hyperactive mare explained, completely ignoring Fluttershy.

"There's- there's smoke. And- and where there's smoke, there's fire. And-" She began once more, but the timid pegasus's concerns were drowned by the noise of the town's residents.

"let's see, that's one, two, three, four, five, six…" Pinkie counted the surrounding ponies.

"Two hundred fifty four, two hundred fifty five…no wait." Dash said, loosing her count.

"Seven!" Pinkie poked Dash as a count, causing her to drop the ball.

"Pinkie Pie!" Dash exclaimed, frustrated, "Now I have to start over!"

"We're all going to have to start over. In a new village, because ours is gonna be-" Fluttershy said again, only to be ignored again.

"Hey, Rainbow Dash, wait up!" Pinkie called out as the pegasus in question flew away.

"Oh, please, this is an emergency, I-I need everypony to-" Fluttershy tried once more, getting more distressed.

"Listen up!" A familiar voice called from the bridge, getting the crowd's attention.

The town's residents turned to see Twilight Sparkle and Spike walking across the bridge.

"Smoke is spreading all over Equestria." She announced, the crowd beginning to worry.

_Pollution, much? _Inferno thought.

"THAT'S WHAT WE'VE BEEN TRYING TO TELL YOU THIS WHOLE DAMN TIME!" Streak shouted angrily, mares covering the ears of their foals.

"But don't worry, I've just received a letter from Princess Celestia informing me that it's not coming from a fire." Twilight assured.

"Oh, thank goodness." Fluttershy sighed along with the crowd.

"It's coming from a dragon."

/

Twilight had called her friends over to the library to properly explain what was going on, and in good time too; Everypony was either eager to know, or practically scared to death.

"What in the name of all things cinnamon swirled is a full-grown dragon doing here in Equestria?" Applejack asked.

"Sleeping." Twilight replied simply.

"Huh?" The others asked in disbelief.

"According to Princess Celestia, he's taking a nap. His snoring is what's causing all this smoke.

"Organic pollution? That's new…" Inferno muttered under his breath.

"He should really see a Doctor. That doesn't sound healthy at all." Pinkie commented.

"Trust me, it isn't." Streak assured.

"I'm failing to see the big problem here. The dragon will most likely be here for…what, ten hours at most? Parts of Earth have been covered in smoke for years, and people still live there." Shadow Storm said, questioning the urgency of the situation.

"Well, it wouldn't be a problem if dragons didn't usually sleep for.. I dunno…A HUNDRED YEARS!" Twilight shouted in response.

"Well, at least he's not snoring fire_._ What are _we _meant to do about it?" Rarity asked.

"I'll tell you what we're meant to do: Give him the boot! Take that! And that!" Dash said with determination as she kicked the wooden horse head that resided on top of one of Twilight's tables and attempted to ram into it, Twilight saving it at the last second.

"We need to _encourage _him to take a nap somewhere else. Princess Celestia has given us this mission, and we must not fail. If we do, Equestria will be covered in smoke for the next one hundred years." She explained.

"But why isn't Celestia taking care of this? She's supposed to be a goddess, it would save a lot of time and resources, and as the Princess, shouldn't _she _be the one dealing with national threats?" Shadow Storm asked, once more bringing logic into the problem.

"All right, everypony, I need you to gather supplies quickly. We've got a long journey ahed of us. Let's meet back here in less than an hour." Twilight instructed, completely ignoring Shadow.

"Wait, listen, will you? This whole expedition could all be negated if Celestia (Who should be the one doing this) took care of it! And why do we all have to go?! Me or Dash could just fly up there!" The former human explained. But his words were lost on the other eight ponies, as they were already taking off toward they respective destinations.

_**"I honestly feel sorry for you…"**_

/

"All right girls…uh, I mean ponies, listen up." Twilight said, forgetting that the Reality Trio was present, "I'm mapping out the fastest route, but we've all got to keep a good pace if we expect to make it up the mountain by nightfall." She instructed, walking back and forth in front of her lined-up friends.

"M-m-mountain?" Fluttershy stammered fearfully.

"Looks pretty cold up there." A.J. said. "You bet it is. The higher you go, the chillier it gets." Dash assured, fake-shivering to emphasize her point.

_If Sarge was here, he'd say something like 'Don't worry, the equine body is perfectly capable of producing it's own heat under pressure using photosynthesis! All you need is some orange juice!' _Inferno thought, chuckling as he imagined the scene.

"Good thing I brought my scarf!" Rarity said enthusiastically, pulling out a pink scarf that she wrapped around her neck.

"Ooo! Pretty!" Pinkie complimented as the scarf waved in her face.

"Oh, yeah, that'll keep you nice and cozy." Dash said sarcastically. Fluttershy looked up at the mountaintop, watching the black smoke spew out into the air, and she was terrified.

"Are uh….you okay Flutteshy?" A voice asked. She turned around to see Blaze, who had a concerned look on his face.

"Y-yes, I am." She said softly.

"Are you sure?" He asked again.

She wanted to scream '_NO' _and fall on the ground, crying her eyes out, but she knew that wasn't an option.

"I'm sure." She lied.

Fluttershy noticed Twilight and Shadow trying to decide a good route with the map. _TWILIGHT!_ She would understand!

"Um, excuse me, Twilight? I know you're busy, but…" She started.

"Uh-huh. Well, we could go this way." Twilight said, ignoring the timid pegasus.

"Are you sure? That path is too narrow, and the terrain would force us to go in single file. Anyway, it'll take too long. I say we go this way." Shadow pointed at another spot on the map.

"But if I could just have a second…" Fluttershy tried to get their attention again.

"Uh-huh. No, we want to avoid that." Twilight pointed out the flaw in Shadow's route.

"Oh yeah, I didn't see that…" Shadow agreed, noticing the flaw.

"So, um, I was just thinking that, um, maybe I should just stay here in Ponyville." Fluttershy finally said.

"Uh-huh." Twilight replied, not paying attention.

"Oh! Good. I'll stay here and-" Fluttershy started in relief before she was interrupted by Twilight.

"Wait, you have to come! Your way with wild animals will surely come in handy."

"I don't think I-" Fluttershy attempted to make a good excuse before she was once again interrupted.

"Oh, and don't worry about your little friends in the meadow. Spike's got it covered while you're gone." Twilight said, gesturing to the dragon in question who was balancing multiple animals on his claws.

"You can count on me!" He said confidentially.

His confidence was then shattered when Fluttershy's jackass of a bunny, Angel jumped on Spike's head and rapidly kicked him, him to loose concentration and drop the animals, who then ran away.

"Hey! Hey! Wait!" Spike shouted as he chased the animals.

"I don't really think he's up to the task." Fluttershy said, still trying to weasel her way out.

"He isn't." Shadow agreed, "But it's better than leaving them unsupervised. We have a lot of ground to cover! LET'S GO!"

And with that, they began walking toward the mountain.

"Maybe…but…but…"Fluttershy stuttered, squealing slightly.

"Are you sure you want Fluttershy to come along? I mean, that pony's afraid of her own shadow. She's just going to slow us down." Rainbow whispered to Shadow. "No she shouldn't." Shadow replied, "Her lack of motivation and virtual fear of everything will jeopardize this poorly thought-out mission to the point that one of us is going to have to blow the dragon's skull apart."

Just as he finished, Shadow felt something painfully collide with his side and knock him over.

As he righted himself, groaning slightly, Shadow saw none other than Streak, an angry look in his blue eyes.

"Dude, what the hay?" Shadow groaned, an eyebrow raised.

"You will shut the **buck up**." Streak answered bluntly.

"What did I do?!" Shadow asked, slightly agitated.

"You were being a cockbite and insulting Fluttershy!" Streak replied, even angrier.

"Did you HAVE to butt into our conversation? And besides, I was just speaking my mind." Shadow countered calmly.

"Why I oughta-" Streak started, but the two bickering colts were interrupted by a gigantic rumble that seemed to come from the mountain, which was right in front of them.

"Whoa, What was _that_?" Dash asked in surprise.

"That is what it sounds like when a dragon snores." Twilight explained.

"It-it's so…high!" Fluttershy stammered in fear as she looked at the top.

"Bow chicka bow wow!" Inferno said.

"Well, it _is _a mountain. I'm going to fly up there and check it out!" Dash declared as she prepared to rocket up, only to be stopped by Applejack pulling her tail.

"Hold on now. Ah' think we should all go up together. Safety in numbers an' all." Applejack said.

As everypony was about to agree, Shadow spoke up.

"Safety in numbers from _what _exactly_? _As far as I know, the only thing up there is a dragon that's SLEEPING. We would cover more ground if we split up and met up at a designated location, and it's a _good _idea for someone to scout out the area, thus _determining _whetherit's safe or not!"

Shadow took a deep breath after his rant, waiting for an response

"I agree with Applejack, let's go up together!" Twilight declared, everypony following as if Shadow had never said anything.

"_**Is it just me, or is something preventing the use of logic in these 'adventures'? Why? Because it would prevent the group from learning a 'valuable lesson' or something?"**___The voices asked Shadow.

_Probably not. And besides, that sounds just like the kind of shit Disney would come up with. I butchered several animals, no censorship whatsoever. I haven't seen a movie from Disney that has anything remotely CLOSE to gore, and I'm pretty sure there's no government conspiracy involved, so, no. _Shadow replied in his head.

Reluctantly, he followed the others and began to hover up the mountain, keeping pace with the others.

"I hear the only thing that sparkles more than the dragon's scales are the jewels they use to build their nest! Ooh, if I play my cards right, I might be able to convince him to part with a few!" Rarity said excitedly.

"And get incinerated in the process? Gee, Rarity, if you wanted that, you could just have asked Inferno." Shadow joked from above.

"I heard that dragons have pretty sharp teeth. But why bother using them for dismemberment? Just ask _ Doktor Shadow!" _Inferno retaliated, both colts sharing a laugh.

"Welcome to my cave Rarity, care for a diamond?" Pinkie added in a deep voice, mock-roaring in the end.

"Ponies, this is no laughing matter!" Twilight fumed.

"Of course it is, amputation is ALWAYS a laughing matter!" Shadow replied, chuckling sinisterly.

_**"Your tendencies are starting to show…"**___The voices reminded. Immediately, he stopped laughing and regained his inquisitive sarcastic demeanor.

"Okay…whatever. Fluttershy, you're the expert on wild animals, what do you think the dragon will be like.?" Twilight asked.

No answer came.

The climbing ponies turned around to find Fluttershy nowhere in sight.

Streak then noticed a pink tail poking out from behind a bush, giving away Fluttershy's position.

"Hey! What are you waiting for? An invitation?" Dash asked, irritated.

"Ooh, I think I have one in my bag!" Pinkie said, and with a pop of confetti, pulled one out.

"I-it's so…so…steep." Fluttershy stuttered fearfully.

"Well, it _is _a cliff. You could just, I don't know, _fly _up here?" Dash asked sarcastically.

"Come on, Fluttershy, flap those wings!" Pinkie encouraged.

"Oh…okay." Fluttershy said softly as she unfolded her wings and slowly began flying up.

As she neared the others, the dragon let loose another deafening snore, causing her wings to retract, sending her plummeting back down.

"Ugh, we don't have time for this!" Twilight groaned. Suddenly, she had an idea, "How about while we climb up the mountain, somepony can help Fluttershy around the mountain?"

Normally, Shadow would let loose his usual open criticism at the idea, but it seemed pointless now, and he just sighed.

"I'll go with her." Streak volunteered, looking at the path ahead.

"All right!" Twilight replied happily, "C'mon boys and girls, up the mountain!" And with that, the seven equines resumed their trek up the mountain.

/

As Streak walked around the mountain with Fluttershy, he took some time to study his surroundings and vent out his anger.

The path was rather barren, with the occasional shrub or two, there didn't seem to be much if any animal life, and it gave him a feeling of…emptiness. Streak remembered back home when he and Colin had played The Legend of Zelda, Majora's Mask. This place reminded him of the Ikana canyon in a weird way: Both places were empty, slightly ominous, and they just gave off weird vibes.

"How long have you known your friends?" Fluttershy asked, slightly startling the earth pony; He had been so wrapped up in his thoughts that he had almost forgotten about the timid pegasus.

"Roughly ten years." Blaze replied.

"I-I don't want to be nosy…but you don't seem to get along all the time, and you've known each other for so long. Why is that?" She asked quietly, afraid that she would make him mad somehow.

Blaze simply smiled. "Well, back when we first met, the three of us were pretty different. I, for one, was way overconfident, got myself in trouble all the time, never thought anything through, and had _huge _anger management issues. Inferno would also get on the bad side of people most of the time, make a joke at anyone's expense, and was willing to embarrass himself in public to get attention."

"Oh my." Fluttershy said quietly.

"Shadow on the other hand, is a different story." Streak said with a sigh.

"How so?" Fluttershy asked, genuinely curious.

"He was this loud, confident, ambitious, optimistic little kid who was able to slap some sense into us and let us actually make some sense of the world. Over time, we all matured and changed. But don't get me wrong: All three of us still have those traits in us, but their just not as noticeable because of personality traits that we never knew about rising up. I mean, Shadow became egomaniacal, rational, sarcastic, increasingly violent, and sometimes completely sadistic. And while that's not really a good thing, it's…just how he is. And although there are times when I just downright hate him, he's a good guy all in all. Sometimes you just need to accept people for who they are."

A rather awkward silence followed as the two equines continued their way around the mountain.

"Streak?" Fluttershy asked quietly, breaking the silence.

"Yeah?" The green earth pony replied.

"Thanks for sharing your thoughts with me. It helped me think about things." She said meekly, looking at him and smiling.

At that moment, Streak's heart exploded from the lethal overdose of cuteness, and the former human resisted the urge to let loose a very unmanly _D'aaawww_.

/

To ease their boredom, Shadow Storm and Inferno had resorted to playing tic-tac-toe with Pinkie and Rarity, even though they were constantly loosing.

"Whoo hoo! We win again!" Pinkie cheered.

"Crap. That's thirty-five games in a row…best of seventy four?" Inferno asked, causing Shadow to facehoof.

"Hey, we made it!" A familiar voice called.

They and the others turned around to see Streak and Fluttershy climbing over the edge.

"Told you it would take forever!" Rainbow whispered to Shadow.

"Scheiße…" He cursed.

"C'mon, let's just keep on going!" Inferno called.

And soon, the nine ponies resumed their trek.

After a couple minutes, the group came across a gap in the path which everypony either flew, or jumped across.

Everypony, except Fluttershy.

"Your turn, Fluttershy!" Twilight called from the other side.

"But…it's so…wide." Fluttershy stammered as she held onto a rock.

"Gimmie a break…" Inferno mumbled.

"Come on, Fluttershy, we should be much farther along by now!" Twilight urged.

"You could just leap on over." Applejack suggested.

"I don't know." Fluttershy said, still clinging to the rock.

"There's nothing to be afraid of. It's just a hop, a skip, and a jump!" Pinkie said as she demonstrated, and began singing.

_"It's not very far. Just move your little rump._

_You can make it if you try with a hop, skip, and jump!" _Pinkie sang as she jumped from side to side. "We don't have time for this!" Shadow complained.

_"A hop, skip, and jump,_

_Just move your little rump,_

_A hop, skip, and jump,_

_A hop, skip, and jump,_

_A hop, skip, and jump,_

_A hop, skip, and jump,_

_A hop, skip, and jump!" _Pinkie finished.

"O-okay. Here I go. A hop." Fluttershy began.

"That's it!" Applejack cheered.

"You've got it!" Twilight encouraged.

"Almost there!" Rarity added.

"A skip." Fluttershy said as she repeated the second step, and jumped.

"Just don't look down!" Twilight warned.

But, as usual, Fluttershy looked down, getting dizzy from the immense height. She squealed in fear and closed her eyes, letting her body fall forward.

Realizing that she wasn't dead, Fluttershy opened her eyes to find herself standing on both sides of the incredibly narrow gulch.

Extremely annoyed, Dash, Pinkie, and Rarity pushed her across the crack.

"I guess I forgot to jump…" Fluttershy said sheepishly.

"Or you could've _flown _across!" Shadow groaned.

After several more minutes of walking, the group came across a strip of land bordered on one side by jagged cliffs.

"Let's keep it down." Twilight whispered. "According to my map, we're entering an avalanche zone. The smallest peep could cause a huge rockslide."

"An…an…ava…ava…" Fluttershy stuttered in fear, but was shushed by Twilight.

As they went on, Rainbow brushed against a tree, causing a lea to float down and land on Fluttershy's flank.

"AVALA-!" The yellow pegasus screamed at the top of her lungs, cut of by Applejack at the last second.

But it was too late, as the whole mountain began shaking.

"Don't tell me this is going to become a trend or something…" Inferno groaned as he began galloping at full speed.

In mere seconds, all hell broke loose with boulders crashing everywhere, Rainbow and Shadow dodging them in the sky, Blaze and A.J. twisting and turning, and Pinkie seemingly anticipating where the boulders would fall, jumping out of the way at the last second. Shadow was glad he had brought his jet engines, as they allowed him to speed ahead of the boulders. As he neared the end of the zone, he heard something behind him.

"Oh no, help!" Twilight shouted as another boulder came right at her.

However, at the last second, Inferno shoved her out of the way, saving her.

"Everyone okay?" Inferno called out as the smoke cleared.

"Thanks to you I am!" Twilight said gratefully, nuzzling her savior, causing him to blush lightly.

"Whoo hoo! Let's do that again!" Pinkie shouted, she and Rarity covered in dirt.

"Uh! This is why a girl always packs extra accessories." Rarity said, draping another scarf around her neck.

"Oh, please tell me I brought the tiara that goes with this." Rarity begged as she frantically searched her saddlebag.

"Uh, I think we got bigger problems than making sure our hair bows match our horseshoes." Dash reminded, pointing at the giant pile of debris blocking their path.

"Sorry." Fluttershy apologized.

"Aw, no big whoop sugarcube." A.J. assured.

"Are you bucking kidding me? That was an avalanche! Next time, _I'm _giving orders." Shadow said angrily.

After making their way across the debris, the nine ponies were faced with a gigantic cave.

Dragon time.

Everypony lined up in from of the cave, Twilight walking back and forth in front of them.

"Okay everypony!" She announced, "The goal here is to get to get this dragon to leave _peacefully. _That means you Rainbow!" She added, as Dash seemed prepared to go full Leroy Jenkins.

"Then what am I supposed to do? I'm not exactly Princess Celestia when it comes to talking…" Dash complained.

"Then sit it out." Twilight replied simply, moving on.

The purple unicorn had decided the ponies to go in a certain order: Herself, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Inferno, Blaze, Shadow Storm, and finally, Fluttershy.

The pegasus in question became more and more terrified as each of her friends went in and out, with no success: Twilight had been diplomatic, Applejack explained to the dragon how the smoke would hurt the environment, Rarity attempted to use it's own vanity against it, Pinkie tried to share a laugh with the beast, and Blaze and Inferno explained how much better off the dragon would be if he just left. Finally, it was Shadow's turn.

_I'm suddenly starting to have second thoughts… _Shadow thought as he neared the cave.

_**"You had a first thought?" **_The voices asked.

_Touché… _Shadow mentally mumbled. As he was about to enter the cave, somepony poked him from behind. The former human turned around to see none other than Rainbow Dash.

"Hey Shadow…mind if I tag along?" She asked.

"Sure, why not?" He replied, happy to have somepony come with him.

"Sweet!" Dash said, trying not to sound too eager.

"Remember Rainbow, don't do anything rash!" Twilight called after them. "Yeah, Yeah! I'll just let Shadow handle it." Dash called back as she and the former human entered the cave.

"So…what are you going to do?" Rainbow asked as she and Shadow walked through the dark cave.

"I suppose I'll just act professional and smooth talk my way out of it." He replied.

"And if that doesn't work?" Dash asked.

"Then I dismember it." Shadow replied with a grin, turning his hoof into a scythe blade for emphasis.

"What about the dragon's scales?" Rainbow asked, "How are you going to get past those?"

"Well, dragon scales are actually made of extremely densified carbon, almost as hard as diamond." Shadow explained, "But since carbon is susceptible to heat, the hundreds of thousands of amps of power released by the blast of a DG-4 is more than enough to deconstruct the carbon atoms. The electricity itself will kill the dragon instantly."

Suddenly Shadow held out his hoof, signaling Dash to stop.

"We're here."

In front of them was a large, circular chamber with a gigantic pile of treasure, and an even bigger dragon.

**"Let me guess, you're here to talk to me?"** The dragon asked in a deep, irritated voice.

"Correct." Shadow replied, clearing his throat, "My name is Chairman Shadow Storm from Group 601. My colleague Rainbow Dash and I are here with orders from the Equestrian Government concerning your prescence in this county."

**"Oh great, another one…"** The dragon grumbled.

"Our time is short, and everyone is awaiting your response to base their next course of action on" Shadow explained.** ]**

**"And why should I care?" **The dragon asked.

Just as Shadow was about to give a smooth, convincing reply, Dash took the wrong time to speak up.

"You should care because we have the PRINCESSES on our side! If you don't go, they'll MAKE you!" She declared, realizing how bad she had made things just as she finished her sentence.

The dragon was now officially pissed off.

**"You think that…YOU CAN **_**MAKE **_**ME LEAVE?!" **The dragon roared, getting up onto it's hind legs.

"Nonononono!" Shadow said frantically, trying to calm things down, "It's just very complicated, and that the Princesses funded this expedition, so they would hate to-"

**"I DON'T GIVE A FLYING BUCK!" **The dragon roared as he shot a stream of fire at the two pegasi.

Luckily, Shadow distracted it with a blast from the Wunderwaffe, giving them enough time to take off toward the exit beforehand, flying at top speed.

"What did you do this time, Rainbow?!" Twilight shouted as they shot out of the cave.

"No, it was me." Shadow lied, "I mentioned the princesses…and pissed it off."

All of a sudden, an absurdly loud roar came from the cave, and the dragon crawled out, standing on it's hind legs and flaring it's wings.

"Son of a bitch!" Streak muttered angrily as flame began building up in the dragon's mouth.

Just as it was about to incinerate them all, a familiar pegasus flew out of hiding and landed in from of the dragon, a look of the purest rage on her face.

"Stay…away…from…my…_**FRIENDS!"**_ Fluttershy screamed, the shockwave her voice made causing the dragon to be blasted through the air back into it's cave at an unimaginable speed.

After a few seconds of silence, a thunderous crash came from the cave, shaking the mountain to it's very core.

A few agonizing seconds of silence later, they heard the rapid flapping of wings coming from the cave; The dragon was coming back out MUCH faster than before.

The nine ponies prepared for that epic battle that awaited them…only to see the dragon fly out of it's cave and into the sky, sobbing like a fleeing Grunt.

They all just stood there, the air so silent that you could hear a flea breathe.

The first one to regain the ability to talk was Inferno. "Guys…I think…Fluttershy's the Dovahkiin…" He mumbled in a trance-like state.

"What…the_ buck_ just happened…?" Streak asked in a terrified and confused voice

"I would say the cavalry just arrived, but I've never seen a battalion of horsemen create a supersonic shockwave and use it to crush a giant dragon." Shadow added.

After the initial shock had passed, the gang found Fluttershy still standing in front of the cave, panting, and with a new look of confidence on her face.

"Fluttershy?" Blaze asked, still in awe. "Y-yes?" She replied, shaking slightly "That was the single most epic thing I have ever witnessed, in or out of reality, and anyone who should disagree is a complete idiot."

"You really think so?" She asked, smiling widely, which made Streak's heart explode a second time. "Yes!" Everypony said all at once.

"I have to say Fluttershy, I have a newfound respect for you." Shadow said, impressed.

Fluttershy turned around, and caught sight of her shadow and fainted from fright immediately.

"And now that respect is gone." He deadpanned.

"C'mon everypony, can we go home now?!" Rainbow called, hovering over the path down.

Seeing how late it was, the nine pony heroes began their trek back down the mountain.

Walking together in the back, Rainbow quickly leaned over and kissed Shadow on the cheek.

"What was that for?" He asked, slightly confused.

"That's for taking the blame of making that dragon mad…but don't think it means anything! I was just saying thanks, nothing more, nothing less!" Dash said.

"Alright, alright. I'll just agree with whatever you say to keep the denial going." He replied with a teasing smirk.

And with that, they all trekked down the mountain, back into Ponyville.

**Make sure to leave constructive criticism, rate, comment, and review.**

**This is ZeroKnight115, over and out.**


	10. Surprise Encounters And Dive Bombings

Chapter 10: Surprise Encounters And Dive Bombings

Shadow Storm, was sleeping. The "Dragon incident" That had happened several hours ago had given him a strong urge to just fall asleep and dream, which he had happily obliged to. But what he was dreaming was far from normal.

Colin looked around to find himself in a charred, lava filled, desolate, stormy landscape with silhouetted, demonic creatures constantly rising out of the ground an ripping apart the humans who dared try to escape their shadowy grasp.

He had had this sort of dream many times: One in which he would mercilessly slaughter every single living creature in sight, including the humans that attempted to escape, witnessing their screaming, crying, pleading, and _bleeding._ With some sort of godly power, Colin was all over the place, rushing toward them at unthinkable speeds and impaling, burning, incinerating, slicing, or _butchering _them, at least one satisfying scream of agony coming out to reward his efforts.

Even if he was miles away and facing the other direction, he could somehow still see his target, almost as if he could see all around him, all at once.

As soon as the humans laid eyes on him, the purest fear flooded their eyes as they tried harder than ever to escape, only to be annihilated as he appeared right in front of them.

Colin gazed at all the destruction, heard the screams of his prey, and smelled the stench of burning flesh. He loved every bit of it. All of a sudden, Colin heard the sound of snapping fingers echoing from seemingly everywhere, and a Voice rang out from above him.

**"Hmm, I must say, I'm rather impressed with your handiwork."**__

_**"I Don't know who you are."**___Colin said, his voice distorted and demonic.

**"Oh, my apologies. But before I introduce myself, first allow me to give ourselves more…appropriate accommodations." **The sound of fingers snapping was heard once more, and a bright light surrounded him, the glorious feeling of death disappearing.

As Colin opened his eye, he saw that he was not in his usual demented dreamscape, but instead in his room back on earth.

"What the hell?" Colin grumbled, climbing out of bed and trying to stand up.

But immediately, he knew something was wrong, both with the way he spoke, and the way he moved.

Falling backwards, Colin looked down at his front limbs to see the problem; In the place of the jet-black hooves that he had grown accustomed to over time, were two _hands. HUMAN _hands.

"W-what the fuck is going on?!" He shouted, "AND WHY AM I A HUMAN AGAIN?!"

"Good, you're awake…" The same voice echoed throughout the room.

Colin turned around to come face-to-face possibly the most random beast he had ever had the misfortune of seeing, so asymmetric that it would drive Death The Kid to commit suicide.

It appeared to be a combination of at least seven creature: A horse, deer, griffon, lion, snake, dragon, goat, and much, much more.

"Who…are you?" Colin asked, haven regained some composure, "And why do you sound like Q from Star Trek?"

"Oh, where are my manners?" The beast asked in a strangely familiar voice, "Please allow me to introduce myself, I am Discord, the master of chaos and disharmony!" Discord announced, laughing.

"Never heard of you." Colin deadpanned.

"Well, you may not have heard _of _me, but you've heard me alright!"

Suddenly, it clicked. Colin thought back to when he, Robert, and Jack had butchered a pack of manticores.

"_Wow, that was fun, wasn't it? A little chaos to make things more interesting? Yes? No? Maybe? Well, at least I know that not ALL of you ponies are so BORING! Well, that seems to be all the time I have left, so buh-bye!" _That strange voice had said. The manticores' remains had then disappeared in a flash of light, just like the one that had brought him here.

"You're…YOU'RE THAT LITTLE DICKHEAD THAT TRIED TO KILL ME!" Colin shouted, angrier by the second.

"Whoa, hold your horses," Discord defended, holding his hands up, "I'm not here for a fight, I'm here to form an alliance."

Colin's gold eyes narrowed and he nodded, signifying Discord to keep going.

"You see, I need your help reclaiming Equestria, as it's _true _ruler from the Elements of Harmony and those two pesky princesses. I've been watching you and your two compatriots for a while, and you've proven to me that you're PERFECT for this job!"

"How so?" Colin asked suspiciously.

"Every being, no matter how harmonious, has a little sliver of pure chaos in their soul, and when you three first got here, I noticed the amounts of chaos in your souls were large, TOO large for any of you to be ponies at heart! My suspicions were proven correct at that little speech you made concerning your former humanity. Also, the sheer amount of chaos you've caused is starting to make me proud! I mean, you should've SEEN the look on that Ursa's face before you blew it up! PRICELESS!" Discord replied, laughing.

"And what's in it for us?"Colin asked, considering the choice."

"Well, if you help me, I can make you all GODS! And with my world order, there won't be anything you CAN'T do! Or, if you want to, I can send you home. I personally hope you all stay, because it's nice to have some people to relate to, and we're very similar, you and I. So, whaddya say? Choose quickly, before you wake up." Discord announced, leaning back on a chair and yawning.

_**"Remain undecided."**___The voices advised.

_I agree. _Colin replied.

"And how do I know that you're not going to backstab me?" He asked Discord who smirked.

"You don't." The spirit of chaos replied simply.

"And because of that, I'm not deciding." Colin said.

"Normally, I'd congratulate you with actually thinking this through, but you're about to wake up. Remember, this isn't over."

And with that, Discord snapped his fingers, and a flash of light surrounded Colin.

/

"GET UP!" Shadow heard from beside him, waking him up, and causing him to instinctively shoot upwards…and crash his head on the ceiling.

After floating back down in a crumpled heap, Shadow opened his eyes to see Rainbow Dash standing by the door, clearly resisting the urge to burst out laughing.

"You know," She started, giggling. "You're really lucky that you have such a thick skull…a crash like that would break a normal pony's head."

"How absolutely bucking hilarious…" Shadow mumbled sarcastically, "At least I don't watch other ponies when their sleeping." He added with a smirk, causing Dash to blush.

"Wha-? NO! I just got here!" She shouted frantically, "And besides, you were mumbling something about Propane tanks and birthday parties."

Shadow's eyes immediately widened. She _knew. _

"I-I have no idea what you're talking about!" He stuttered unconvincingly, "Wh-what's 'propane'? It's not like I knew it would ignite the-" He stopped right there.

_**"You might have said too much…"**___The voices said.

"Okay…" Dash said, not sure what to say.

"Alright, back to business." Shadow started, getting back on topic, "Why did you wake me up at…" He then proceeded to look at the clock on the wall, "…five in the morning?" He groaned, stretching his wings.

"For your flying lesson!" Rainbow replied eagerly.

_**"Well, time for you to become the first living kamikaze jet in history. Go for it."**_

_If you had a neck, I'd step on it and shoot you in the head. 'Cause that's just how I roll. _Shadow replied mentally, following Dash out the library.

/

Shadow Storm stood at attention in front of Rainbow Dash, who was wearing a black and white cap and a whistle around her neck.

The reason she had woken him up early was because the weather today was perfect. Perfect, besides the massive storm that had been scheduled in the afternoon.

Although Shadow already pretty much knew how to fly, if he wanted to get better, professional lessons would be helpful, especially his teacher being a Wonderbolts fanatic and all.

They had went to a training site by the edge of town, which consisted of a large track, various equipment, which included an anemometer.

"So," Dash started, "Before we begin your actual training, I need to know your wingpower. And that's what this…this…" She said, struggling to remember the machine's name.

"Anemometer?" Shadow helped.

"Yeah…I knew that…Anyway, that's what this if for. All you gotta do is fly around the track one time as fast as you can, understood?" Rainbow asked.

"Perfectly." Shadow replied, getting on the track and into position.

"Ready, set, GO!" Dash shouted. As soon as Rainbow finished her sentence, Shadow surged forward, accelerating more and more, until he passed the anemometer, the dial on it as far into the green section as possible.

"So, how'd I do?" He asked, hovering in the air.

Dash simply had a flabbergasted look on her face as she looked at the dial.

"F-fifteen point two? But…that's impossible!" She exclaimed, looking back and forth between the dial and Shadow Storm.

"Is…that a good thing, or a bad thing?" The former human asked uncertainly.

It DID seem impossible; The average pegasus, one who has been training for years, could barely get past ten wingpower.

Shadow however, had never had a real lesson in his life, and was at over _fifteen_ wingpower.

"It's a good thing. A REALLY good thing." Rainbow replied after she recovered from the initial shock, "You see, based from the measurements I took at last year's Tornado Rise, which is where pegasi make tornado's that lift water to Cloudsdale, where it's distributed around Equestria, the majority of the pegasi averaged around ten point five wingpower, and they were training 24/7. YOU, on the other hoof, haven't had a single flying lesson in your life, and you have a wingpower of fifteen point two. To compare, I have a wingpower of sixteen point five."

In all honesty, Shadow wasn't surprised; Magic had come extremely easily to Inferno, so why not the same to him with flight?

Suddenly, Dash resumed talking, snapping him back to reality.

"One thing you need to know is that depending on their body and wing structure, pegasi specialize in different altitudes, speeds, and types of flight. Based on your wing structure and the way you fly, you're built for really high altitudes and rapid acceleration over long periods of time. That doesn't mean it's harder to fly in low altitudes, it's just that it's easier to fly in hight altitudes than ponies with different flight specialities. But don't let the height get to your head: Eventually the oxygen in the air will get to thin for even _you _to breathe, you'll faint, and you'll probably die."

_I am planning a way to bypass that limit as you speak. _Shadow thought. To be honest though, he was extremely impressed with Dash's extensive knowledge of flight. But then again, it _was _her passion in life, so no real surprise there.

"Acknowledged." Shadow said, "So…now what.?"

"Now," Dash began, a sinister grin growing on her face, "Let's see just exactly how much punishment those wings of yours can take…"

/

In all honesty, Shadow would rather load himself into a MAC cannon and fire himself at a Covenant Supercarrier than carry on with his current ordeal.

Suddenly, another bolt of lighting flew past his face, causing him to instinctively dive down toward the ground.

"COME ON! YOU AREN'T GIVING UP ALREADY, ARE YOU?!" Rainbow Dash shouted as she launched more lightning bolts at him.

Due to his unnaturally high wingpower, Dash had decided to give him "Slightly" more rigorous training, which seemed to translate into dodging barrages of lightning bolts two miles up in the sky. For the past seven hours, Shadow had been flying at full speed, doing barrel rolls, nose dives, and much more while dodging his instructor's seemingly never-ending supply of high-voltage electricity.

"Alright, I think that's enough!" Rainbow called from the midst of the electric storm.

At that moment, Shadow happened to be in the middle of a loop, and due to his distraction, he had slowed down _just _enough for him to flip over and begin plummeting to the ground.

"SON OF A BITCH!" Shadow shouted, trying to pull up.

/

Inferno and Streak were in Ponyville park, helping prepare for the storm by removing potentially harmful tree branches from trees.

"SON OF A BITCH!" Both colts suddenly shouted simultaneously without warning.

"What the buck? Why did we just say that?" Inferno asked, extremely confused.

"I…don't know…" Streak replied, "It felt like there was…a disturbance or something…"

/

Shadow looked down to see the ground rapidly coming up to meet him, and half expected his life to flash before his eyes or something.

But instead, his wings managed to catch a sufficient drift and change his course from a vertical fall…to straight at a giant, jagged boulder. But then something happened that he didn't expect: Seemingly all on their own, Shadow's two front hooves were surrounded in light and morphed into the black and silver cannons of death he had grown to love, and a gigantic blast of energy exploded from their barrels, annihilating the boulder, and allowing him to have a rough, but not deadly landing on the grassy terrain.

The former human groggily lifted his head up only to find himself in Ponyville Park, where pegasi gathered storm clouds and other ponies took the limbs off trees, presumably so they wouldn't damage anything.

"Oh my Celestia!" He heard Dash shout as she landed next to him.

"You okay Shadow?" She asked, worried.

"Well, my internal organs seem to be functioning and I can still form coherent thoughts, so, yeah…" He groaned, getting up.

"Are you alright sir?" An unfamiliar voice called out from behind them. Shadow and Dash turned around to see a grey earth pony stallion with a short black mane and tail, brown eyes, and strangely, an "X" as a cutie mark.

Shadow had seen him around occasionally, at the market mostly, but had never really heard him speak.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a small flying accident." The former human replied.

"Hey…I don't think I've seen you around…what's your name?" Dash asked.

"Oh, I'm X." X replied, extending his hoof.

"Rainbow Dash, the fastest flyer in Equestria!"

When X spoke, for a split second, a strange _feeling _spread through Shadow's human mind. Something that instinctively told him to run away_, _that this was bad; That it was _dangerous_. But as quickly as it came, the feeling left.

"Hey Skittles?" Shadow asked.

"Yeah?"

"I need to check on something for a sec. I'll be back soon."

"Alright." Dash replied.

And with that, Shadow took off towards his lab.

"Say…" X said slowly, "Is there anything you can tell me about your friend…?"

/

Colin entered the main room in his lab, noticing that his messaging machine had another message from Group 601.

He pulled the paper out and read it quickly.

_What's this? _He thought to himself, _The group is offering me more positions in other branches… _

He smirked, this would work perfectly with his plans, and would give him a better position altogether.

Colin quickly composed an accepting reply, pit it in the messaging machine, and sent it off into the magic postal network. He then proceeded to exit the workshop, seal the doors, and take off back toward the Library.

/

Shadow flew down toward the library, noticing that X was gone.

"Hey Skittles!" He called, landing next to her.

"Oh, hey Shadow. I need to ask you something."

"Shoot." He said.

"You know that pony from before…X, I think his name was? Do you know him?" Dash asked.

"Well, I've seen him around a couple times, this is the first time I've actually heard him talk." Shadow replied.

"He asked a lot of questions about you…Pretty basic stuff, like your name, where you came from, stuff like that…and then he left, mumbling something about numbers."

"That's…relatively weird…but then again, who _wouldn't _want to know about some guy from different dimension? He was most likely just curious." He assured.

"Yeah-" Dash started, but was interrupted by a crash of thunder.

"Oh yeah, I forgot. Giant storm." Shadow said as it began raining and the wind began to pick up.

All of a sudden, they heard multiple voices behind him, both male and female.

He and Rainbow turned around to Rarity and Applejack arguing over Celestia knows what, and Streak and Inferno franticly looking for shelter.

"Come inside ponies, quick!" A familiar voice called from inside the library.

They turned to see Twilight beckoning them inside. Seeing no better option, they all galloped toward and into the library.

**Well, there you go.**

**And yes, my birthday is tomorrow, I'm going to be [**_**redacted**_**] years old.**

**So give me an early present by reviewing!**

**This is ZeroKnight115, over and out.**


	11. Look Before You Sleep

Chapter 11: Look Before You Sleep

"Wait a second…We all just took shelter from a lightning storm in a tree…Why did I agree to this in the first place?" Shadow Storm asked, realizing the stupid choice he had made by coming into the library.

"I have a magic lightning rod, so no worries!" Twilight said.

Shadow groaned, "Why does almost every piece of technology here have to start with 'magic'!? A _normal _lightning rod would be perfectly satisfactory!" He said in an irate tone, "And machines that _don't _start with 'magic' aren't exactly twenty-first century grade! For example, I've noticed a distinct design flaw in the Equestrian steam locomotive…You know, I should really get to work on that…" He muttered, thinking of revolutionizing the Equestrian transportation industry.

Everypony stared at him.

"…That tends to happen when I'm under stress, and I've been dodging lighting bolts for seven hours straight, so go figure." Shadow said, quickly glaring at Rainbow Dash, who giggled at the memory.

"Some storm, huh? The pegasus ponies sure have outdone themselves this time. I hope you four don't have any trouble getting home." Twilight said to A.J., Rarity, Streak, and Rainbow.

"That's probably the case, seeing how their homes are at least a mile or two away." Shadow said.

At that moment, Twilight's eyes widened in realization.

"I know! Since Spike isn't here, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Applejack, we can have a slumber party! I've always wanted to have one of those!' She exclaimed.

"Uhh, pardon me sugarcube, but aren't these three fellars here?" Applejack asked, gesturing to Shadow, Inferno, and Streak.

"Hmm…I suppose you're right." Twilight said, ''We'll just have to-'

Before the purple unicorn could finish however, the front door swung open, revealing a soaked and exhausted Spike.

"SPIKE?!" Everyone exclaimed simultaneously.

"What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in Canterlot?" Twilight asked in confusion.

"I…would be…" The baby dragon began, panting, "But a lighting bolt…destroyed the train tacks…and the strangest thing is that it struck _before _the storm…"

_Gee, I wonder why that is… _Shadow thought sarcastically, thinking back to his flying "lesson".

Spike then noticed the three former humans, and his mood seemed to lighten.

"Hey guys, what are you doing here?" He asked excitedly.

"Well, we were taking shelter until Twilight here was about to throw us out because she wanted to have a slumber party…" Streak replied.

"Streak!" Twilight said in protest, "I wouldn't do something like that-" She started, but was cut off by Spike.

"Wait, you can't just kick my friends out!" He said.

"Well, it says I'm my book that in a slumber party, there aren't supposed to be any boys!" The purple unicorn defended, holding up said book.

_"Slumber 101: All You've Ever Wanted to Know About Slumber Parties But Were Afraid to ask." _Inferno read with a raised eyebrow, "Is that a reference to-" He began, but was cut off by Shadow.

"Dude. Not now." He said.

"Well, what if I invite Inferno, Streak, and Shadow over for a sleepover?" Spike asked, crossing his arms in victory, "Which I just did." He added.

"And we accept!" The three former humans shouted all at once, Inferno wearing a troll-face mask that he got from Celestia knows where.

"But…but…you can't do this, Spike!" Twilight protested, looking back at the Reality Trio and seeing how Streak and Shadow also had troll-face masks on.

"I already did." Spike replied smugly.

"Come on Spike!" Twilight said, now irritated, "Do you really want to ruin my first slumber party!?" Just as Spike was about to retort, Shadow broke them up.

"How about this; We get this floor to do manly stuff, and you four get the upstairs floor to do…whatever you do. As long as no one goes out of their territory, everyone's happy." He suggested.

Having heard this, the gleam in Twilight's eye returned as she grabbed her book and began pushing Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash upstairs.

"Uh…" Dash started, her eyes darting between Twilight and Shadow, "Do I really have to come upstairs? Can't I just-" But before she could finish, Twilight interrupted her, her book open.

"Sorry Rainbow! But we're going to do _everything _by the book! It'll be so much FUN!" The purple unicorn exclaimed giddily.

And with that, the four mares (three of them reluctantly) went up the stairs, and shut the door behind them.

/

"Wait, it gets better!" An out-of-breath Shadow said over the intense laughter of Spike, Inferno, and Streak, "When the patient woke up, his skeleton was missing, and the doctor was never heard from AGAIN!" He then proceeded to burst into slightly maniacal laughter, the others doing the same.

"Anyway," Shadow chuckled as the laughter died down, "That's how I lost my hunting license."

"True story." Inferno added as he took a sip of his apple cider.

"Wow…" Spike said in slight awe. "Your world seems really cool! Lots of action…and stuff. And all those cool things like 'Guns', 'Xboxes', and 'Uranium'!"

"And I've had plenty of experience with all three of those." Shadow said with a smirk.

"Dude," Inferno chuckled. "Get a job!"

"…"

It took a full twenty seconds for the sheer irony of his question to sink in.

"You know, it's _really _time that you got some work, Jack…" Streak said.

"I mean, Shadow's pretty much the only one here that has a legitimate job." Spike added with a raised eyebrow.

"And it pays awesomely!" The pegasus in question said as he brought out a gigantic sack of bits, his "I'm awesome" smirk on full blast.

The other former human's jaws simply crashed against the floor, furious looks on their faces.

"H…h…HOW DID YOU GET SO MUCH BUCKING CASH?!" Streak shouted in disbelief, his voice rattling the tree, "A…an…AND WHY THE HAY DIDN'T YOU TELL US!?"

"Number one, because Group 601 is a part of the government, and two, because I felt like it."

Just as Streak was about to go berserk, a deafening crash of thunder split through the air, causing the three former humans to duck in cover under the table. "Are…you guys okay?" Spike asked unsurely.

"When you get shocked by an electric fence at age five, you grow up not being very fond of static electricity." Shadow replied, his eyes darting around nervously.

"And you two?"

"You don't wanna know." Streak and Inferno said simultaneously.

/

"So, how are you two doing over there, Applejack and Rainbow Dash?" Rarity asked smugly, hair curlers in her mane and tail, the other three mares with the same.

"Just fine, Rarity." A.J. replied in an irritably, Rainbow simply rolling her eyes.

"This is so awesome!" Twilight giggled, "Makeovers, check!"

The purple unicorn then proceeded to use her magic to make the hair curlers disappear from them all, A.J. and Dash sighing in relief that they were gone.

"Ooh, it says here that we have to tell ghost stories. Who wants to go first?" Twilight asked.

Before anypony could reply, a familiar voice rang out from nowhere.

"Did somepony say 'ghost stories'?" Spike asked before he fell from the ceiling, followed by Shadow, Streak, and Inferno, all of them landing in a pile on the floor.

"How did you get here?" Twilight asked in confusion and annoyance.

"Good question. How _did _we get here?" Spike asked, now also confused.

"I think Zero might be screwing with us again…" Shadow muttered under his breath.

"Huh?" Streak asked, confused.

"Nothing!" Shadow replied quickly.

"Anyway," Spike began, getting back on topic, "I heard you were about to tell ghost stories, and you just _can't _leave us out of this! I know your book says that we can't be here, but c'mon!" The baby dragon pleaded, his eyes going full puppy-dog.

After a few seconds of hesitation, Twilight gave in.

"Fine. But only this time, okay?"

"Of course!" Spike said, saluting.

"Works every time." He whispered to his friends with a smirk.

"So anyway, who wants to go first?" Twilight asked.

"Me!" Applejack shouted, quickly raising her hoof, "Ah'd like to tell y'all the terrifying tale of of the prissy ghost who drove everypony crazy with her unnecessary neatness. Oo-oo!" She said in an eerie tone, imitating a ghost wail.

"Never heard of it, but I have a much better one." Rarity declared, "It's the horrifying tale of the messy, inconsiderate ghost who irritated everypony within a hundred miles! Ooo!" Rarity said dramatically, also imitating a ghost.

"That's not a real story. You made it up." A.J. accused.

"It's a ghost story, they're _all _made up." Rarity countered.

"So nopony's afraid?" Shadow asked, an idea brewing in his head.

"Pfft, not me!" Rainbow declared.

"Well, I am." He said in a suddenly nervous voice, "And especially after.." Shadow then looked around and gulped. "Well, you know…"

This seemed to catch the others' attention.

"What? What do we know?" Dash asked uncertainly.

"You don't remember?" Shadow asked in surprise. "He was all over the news!"

"Tell us! Tell us!" Spike said enthusiastically.

"No, no, no, no, I probably shouldn't. It would ruin the slumber party for you." He said with a smirk.

"What happened, what happened, what happened?" Spike asked excitedly, now genuinely interested.

"You mean you've never heard the story of the…Hash-Slinging Slasher?" The former human asked in questionable disbelief.

"The Slash-Bringing Hasher?" Spike asked in confusion.

"The Hash-Slinging Slasher!" Shadow corrected.

"The Sash-Ringing, the Trash Singing, Mash-Flinging, the Flash-Stringing, Ringing, the Cr-Crash-Dinging…" Spike stuttered, attempting to pronounce the name.

"Yes, the Hash-Slinging Slasher. But, most ponies just call him the Ha-" Shadow then imitated a terrified scream. "Because that's all they have time to say before he GETS THEM!"

"C'mon, just tell us the story!" Rainbow half-pleaded.

"You asked for it." Shadow said with a shrug as he began. "Years ago, at a fast food restaurant that used to be across the street, the Hash-Slinging Slasher used to be a fry cook…a clumsy one. And then, one night, when he was cutting the lettuce…it happened."

"He forgot the secret dressing?" Spike asked in confusion.

"No."

"He didn't wash his hooves?"

"No!"

"Irregular portions?"

"NO!" Shadow shouted in annoyance. "He cut off his own hoof by mistake!" Now _this _particular statement resulted in a horrified gasp from the crowd, everypony looking as if they were about to puke. Everypony, except Streak and Inferno, who seemed to see what their pegasus friend was doing, and began playing along.

"And he replaced his hoof with a rusty spatula. And then, he got hit by a bus! And at his funeral, his boss, who was also the former owner of this very library, fired him! So every…what day is it?" Shadow whispered to Streak.

"Tuesday." Streak replied.

"...Tuesday night, his ghost returns to this library to wreak his horrible vengeance!" Shadow said in a foreboding voice.

"Isn't tonight Tuesday night?" Rarity asked.

"It is, he'll be coming then…"

"But…how will we know?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"There are three signs that signal the approach of the Hash-Slinging Slasher: First, the lights will flicker on and off, all on their own. Next, the phone will ring, and there will be nobony there."

By now, most of the ponies were visibly uncomfortable.

"And finally, the Hash-Slinging Slasher arrives in the ghost of the bus that ran him over. Then he exits the bus and crosses the street without looking both ways because he's already dead! Then he taps the window with his grizzly spatula hoof…" Shadow continued menacingly as Spike, Rarity, and Twilight gulped.

"…He opens the door…" He said while imitating the creaking sound of a door, "…He slowly approaches the center of the room…and do you know what he does next?"

"What?" Everypony asked simultaneously.

"You really want to know?"

"What?"

"Are you sure you want to know?"

"WHAT, WHAT, WHAT DOES HE DO?!" Rainbow shouted in both impatience and nervousness.

Shadow then proceeded to sneak up on Twilight and tap her.

"He gets ya!"

And at that moment, a bolt of lighting coupled with a clap of thunder crashed outside the library, causing everypony except Shadow, Inferno, and Streak screamed and ducked in cover under the table.

"Uhh…I'm not scared! That s-story was just a load of horse feathers!" Dash stuttered quickly after quickly getting out from under the table along with the others.

"I may be a lady, but I am not so easily frightened!" Rarity scoffed.

However, right that second, the lights began to flicker on and off.

"Very funny, Shadow." Spike said in annoyance.

"What?" The pegasus in question asked.

"'_And the lights will flicker on and off_'. Just like the story." Spike said, imitating the story.

"I'm not doing anything…" Shadow replied.

About two seconds later, the old-fashioned telephone in the living room rang.

"I'll get it!" Shadow called as he trotted downstairs and picked up the phone.

"Hello?" He asked. "Hello? Hello?"

There was no answer.

"Nice try Shadow." Dash said.

"Nice try what?" Shadow asked in confusion.

"_'The phone will ring and there will be nopony there.'_You crack me up!"

"You do realize I'm not doing this, right?" Shadow asked.

But right out of the blue, an odd looking bus pulled up to the other side of the street.

"I didn't know busses ran this late…" Rarity muttered.

"They don't!" Spike replied nervously, backing up slightly.

At that moment, the bus drove away, revealing the silhouette of a sinister, hunchbacked figure.

"We'll, they're dropping someone off." Streak noted.

Seconds after that statement, the figure raised one of it's arms, revealing the shape of a spatula.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Everypony screamed as the figure approached the library.

"THE SASH-RINGING, FLASH-SINGING, THE FASH-PINGING…" Rainbow Dash stuttered.

"THE HASH-SLINGING SLASHER!" Spike cried as he clung to Rarity.

The nine equines (and sole dragon) could only watch in horror as the door creaked open and The Hash-Slinging Slasher walked up the stairs and toward the center of the room.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" Everyone except the Trio Screamed, clinging to whoever was nearest as they awaited the end.

However, instead of slaying them with his rusty spatula, the "Hash-Slinging Slasher" simply exploded in a cloud of confetti.

A thirty-second moment of silence before Streak, Shadow, and Inferno fell down and began literally rolling on the floor laughing, laughing so hard that tears were openly streaming down their faces.

"Y'all haffta to be kiddin me…" Applejack muttered, her eyes shut in frustration.

"Fraid' not!" Streak replied in-between bursts of laughter.

The whole thing had been a setup: The story, the lights, the phone, the bus, and the spatula-wielding psychopath. Due to Inferno's uncanny magical abilities, it was incredibly easy for him to conjure up some well-timed special effects, including the ghost bus and the slasher himself, and oh, was it worth it: One of the Trio's greatest troll-moments.

/

After miraculously managing to evade somewhat-certain death at the hoof of Rainbow Dash, Spike and the trio decided to go back downstairs. That was, until they heard what was next on Twilight's list.

"Now, who want's s'mores?"

"WE DO!" All four boys shouted, Shadow holding a Thunder Gun for some reason.

"Wh…what the hay is that for?" Streak asked nervously, only now noticing the weapon.

"Don't question my cooking methods." Shadow deadpanned, preparing for some hardcore s'more making.

/

"Then you place one marshmallow on the top of the chocolate and be sure that it's centered, that's critical, and then carefully put another graham cracker on top. And done! Ta-da!" Rarity said with a chuckle, observing her specimen.

"I wonder how the other four are doing…" Rainbow Dash mumbled.

Suddenly, the sound of an explosion rang through the library from downstairs.

The door then burst open, revealing Inferno covered in soot and holding a s'more with his magic, a slightly charred Shadow who had a crazed grin on his face and was holding one of the teleporters that he invented, Streak, who's shotgun was covered in chocolate, and Spike, who just looked confused all walked in saying nothing.

"Well…that test seemed to be a success…" Streak said to Shadow, who chuckled.

"Right you are, gentlemen. For we have used brute force, magic, technology, and a shitloadof incendiary equipment to produce the ULTIMATE s'more specimen!" The crazed pegasus gestured to the s'more in question, which had no redeeming qualities.

"Don't worry Twilight, nothing got damaged from that explosion for…some reason…" Spike assured, trailing off at the end.

"S'mores, check." Twilight announced as she checked off the box. "Ooh! Since you four are here, why don't we all play truth or dare?" Twilight asked excitedly.

At the mention of "truth or dare", Shadow immediately snapped back to reality as his pupils shrunk to the size of pinpricks.

"Nonononononono!" He said, waving his hooves. "I'm not playing _that _game. Ever. Again. Why? I think you three know!" He said to Streak and Inferno, who seemed to be recalling a bad memory.

"C'mon Shadow, It wasn't that bad…" Jack said with a nervous laugh.

"They had us bucking surrounded! Right where they wanted us! If I hadn't ignited that fuel tank with your lighter, then we would be…You know…" Shadow replied irately.

"Okay…It was that bad. But we know these girls, it's not gonna end up like…that…"

"Fine…" Shadow groaned, sitting down with everyone else.

/

"Alright, who's first?" Twilight asked the group.

"Me!" Shadow said eagerly with a raised hoof, unusually happy.

"Alright Inferno, truth or dare?" The unicorn thought for a moment before answering.

"Eh, what the hay. Dare."

"I dare you to put a metal cone around your horn, go outside in the storm, and wait for lightning to strike." Shadow dared with a sadistic smile.

"Son of a bitch…" Inferno groaned as he conjured up a metal cone, put it on his horn and reluctantly trotted outside.

They waited for about ten seconds before a clap of thunder was heard and checked outside to find a slightly charred Inferno sprawled on the ground, smoke coming from the tip of his horn and a look of the purest rage on is face as he got up and walked inside.

"Shadow, I dare you to _fly _out in the storm!" Inferno shouted, not even giving the pegasus a chance to choose.

Shadow's eyes narrowed.

"Challenge accepted."

The former human then proceeded to open the nearest windows and take off into the storm.

Five seconds passed.

Then ten.

Then fifteen.

By know, everypony was getting worried.

"Do you think he's okay?" Rainbow Dash asked in a worried tone that didn't really seem like her.

"Wait…what's that?" Spike asked as he heard some kind of sound from outside the house, which seemed to be getting louder and louder.

Streak and Inferno decided to poke their heads outside and take a look, only to confirm that their friend was (relatively) fine, but they weren't going to be.

They were met with the sight of Shadow storm diving almost vertically toward them at full speed, crackling with electricity, and a look of fury on his face.

As he approached rapidly, one would think Shadow would effectively incinerate hit friends once crashing into them, but instead, right as Shadow was almost apon them, Inferno simply conjured up a magical barriar which Shadow slammed into face-first.

"SON OF A BITCH!" Shadow cried as he slammed into the shield.

"…Ughh…" Shadow groaned, rubbing his head and getting up, "What the HAY was that for!? You couldn't even let me get payback?!" He shouted.

"I, uh, I think we should check off truth or dare and move on. Let's see what our next fun-fun thing is, shall we?" Twilight asked nervously. "Hmm…what does this mean? 'Pillow fight'?"

"Oh please," Rarity scoffed, "I am not at all interested in participating in something so crude!"

Suddenly, Applejack threw a pillow at her face, and when it slid off, the Trio could tell that all hell was about to break loose and go ballistic.

"IT. IS. ON!" Rarity declared.

In mere seconds, a all-out firefight with bullets substituted with pillows broke out, with the Trio, Rainbow Dash, Spike, and Twilight in the line of fire.

Before they could be mowed down under the rain of pillows, Shadow quickly pulled a bubble-shield generator out of his saddlebag and put it on the ground, and activated the gold shield that immediately blocked the flying pillows.

"That's nifty." Spike commented.

"True." Streak said, "But in about thirty seconds, the generator's gonna run out and we'll be back in no-man's land."

True to his word, about twenty seconds or so the generator exploded and the shield dissipated, leaving them all helpless.

Helpless, that is until Inferno summoned a magic barrier about half a second later.

"This could take a while…" Twilight sighed.

**French Narrator: Twenty Minutes Later…**

"Maybe we should just call it a night and get some sleep?" Twilight suggested to the others inside Inferno's shield, whom happily agreed.

Everypony proceeded to quickly exit the war zone and head off to wherever.

Streak had decided to just sleep on the couch downstairs, Twilight had decided to sleep in the basement because of the constant claps of thunder of the ever-growing storm, Inferno stayed in the guest room, and Applejack, and Rarity went to sleep in the same room.

That left Spike, Shadow Storm, and Rainbow Dash as the only ones awake.

"Well, there's still an hour or two until we really should go to sleep." Shadow said.

"What does Twilight do for fun around here?" Dash asked.

"She reads." Spike deadpanned, clearly not a fan of the idea.

"Ugh, that's so BORING!" Rainbow groaned, "What about you, Shadow?" She asked again.

"I think it's best you _don't _know." Shadow replied seriously.

"Think you can show us one of those thingamajigs that you're always bragging about?" Spike asked hopefully.

Shadow groaned, "I _would _if I didn't leave pretty much all my stuff back at the workshop…" He sighed frustratedly.

There really _was _nothing to do.

"I'd legitimately kill for a TV right about now…" Shadow muttered just loud enough for the others to hear him.

"What's a 'TV'?" Rainbow asked.

"We'll…uh…" Shadow trailed off, not sure how to explain television to someone who'd never heard of it.

"To put it simply…it's a box that shows…moving pictures?" He said unsurely, not really sure how to continue.

"So, like a movie?" Dash asked.

"There are movies here?" Shadow asked, surprised by this revelation.

"Yeah…but the projectors are really expensive, so nopony really uses them around here." She replied.

"Well, a TV is pretty much a box with a screen that plays movies and almost a million other things, with no projector. And they have these TV's with 'HD', or high definition that make the things on the screen really detailed and high quality!" He explained.

"Wow!" Spike exclaimed, "Your world sounds awesome!"

"Yeah, I guess it is." Shadow replied, thinking about all the things that didn't exist here.

"You think you can tell us more about your world?" Spike asked excitedly.

"Yeah, why not?" He said with a shrug.

"Well, where should I start…?"

/

Shadow spent Celestia knows explaining his world, from fast-food restaurants to fusion reactors.

Spike and Dash listened as he explained human society, the inner workings of cars, firearms, and went a little _too_ in depth with video games.

"-and that's why you always take the energy sword!" He finished.

"Wow…that really sounds like fun!" Rainbow exclaimed, "Right Spike?"

She and Shadow both turned to find the baby dragon fast asleep, and it looked like he had been that way for a while.

"I think I might have bored him to sleep…can't say that's a first…" Shadow mumbled, making Dash giggle.

"Well, might as well take him to bed." Shadow said, putting the sleeping dragon on his back and trotting upstairs toward Twilight's room, dash following suite.

Placing Spike in his basket/bed, Shadow looked at Twilight's bed.

"Well, I guess you'll be sleeping here." He said, flying onto the bed.

"And how am I supposed to do that with you on it?" Dash asked with a raised eyebrow.

"If you looked close enough, my hoof was pointing at the floor. Sorry 'bout that." The former human replied, not looking as if he was going anywhere any time soon.

"Do you wanna do this the easy way, or the hard way?" Dash challenged.

"…Yes." Shadow replied with a poker face.

Rainbow prepared to charge forward and knock Shadow off, but just as she neared him, a deafening crash of thunder roared through the air, shaking the tree and causing the lights to go out.

Dash immediately flared her wings to slow down and wrapped her arms around Shadow and clung to him instead of knocking him off, who hugged her back.

"M-maybe it's for the best you stay here for a little while…" She stuttered, shaking.

"W-wait…if most pegasi work in the weather industry…then shouldn't they be experienced with thunder…?" Shadow questioned.

"We _would _if b-being a pegasus didn't make us living lightning rods." Rainbow replied.

"Fair enough…" The former human muttered, still clinging to the pony next to him.

A few minutes of silence passed, in which the storm calmed down slightly.

Dash remembered when Shadow was talking about "earth". She couldn't help but notice that he didn't mention anything about his life, or what happened before he came to Equestria.

"So…what happened…y'know, before you came here?"

Shadow's expression turned into one of nervousness and discomfort.

"What happened?" She asked again.

Shadow took a deep breath. Nobody besides Robert and Jack knew what happened; What he did, the day he came to Equestria.

"You don't have to talk about it…" Dash said.

"No…I can…" Shadow replied. Rainbow remained silent.

"The day I came to Equestria, was horrible…" He started.

After a few moments, he continued. "I got into a fight…a really big fight with some other people who tried to _kill _Jack, Robert, and me."

Immediately, Dash felt sorry for asking and turned to face him. "I-I'm sorry! I shouldn't have asked…" "

Don't be." Shadow assured, "And besides, that's not even the bad part; In the middle of the fight, my friends were almost beaten unconscious, with horrible injuries. And at that moment, _something _inside me, _something_ deep in my mind snapped. I drew my knife that I always carried with me, and I…I…_tore _the guys that attacked us to pieces…I don't even know if they were still _alive!_ All I can remember are blurs, screams, and flashes of red…"

Dash looked at Shadow, who's eyes were darting everywhere in a paranoid fashion.

"Afterwards, I ran back home, thinking everything for me was over, that I was done for, that my future was gone. Then, Robert and Jack found me and were able to talk some sense into me, and we were somehow transported here."

Shadow did his best to drown out the sounds of the voices.

"I wanted to feel horrible, that I didn't deserve to exist anymore, but something inside me didn't let me feel that, feel _anything…_"

The voices stopped.

"I…I'm sorry…" Dash repeated, turning her head away from him.

"You don't have to apologize, Skittles." Shadow said, using his hoof to turn her head back to face him, "After all, in some weird way, I'm glad that happened; I wouldn't have found this world…and I wouldn't have met some great ponies…" Shadow continued, slowly inching his face forward, closing the gap between them.

"Who else wouldn't you have met?" Dash asked quietly, also leaning forward.

"I wouldn't have met…you…"

"And that wouldn't be good, would it…?" Dash whispered, beginning to close the rest of the gap.

"What are you doing?"

Upon seeing Spike, the two pegasi immediately pulled away from each other and tried to act "natural".

"You two were gonna kiss, weren't you?" Spike asked smugly, grinning like an idiot.

"Nonono!" Dash replied quickly, "Just talking about…the weather!"

"Yeah, lots of cumulonimbi out there, right?" Shadow agreed quickly.

"Really? The weather?" Spike deadpanned.

"Do I look like the kind of guy who would tell a lie?" Shadow asked.

"Yes." Spike replied flatly, "Hey, but don't worry, I'm not telling anypony."

Both Dash and Shadow gave a sigh of relief at this revelation.

"Anyway, I can't sleep up here with all the thunder, so I'm gonna go downstairs and sleep in the guest room." The baby dragon said, dragging his stuff downstairs.

"Might as well go and get some sleep…" Shadow yawned, getting up.

Just then, a bright flash of lighting followed by a clap of thunder illuminated and shook the room, causing Rainbow to quickly grab his arm.

"Can you sleep in here? Y'know…with the storm and all?" Dash asked, still nervous.

"Sure, I just gotta put my stuff on the floor…" He replied, standing up again.

"Wait!" Rainbow said quickly, "You can sleep in the bed…if you want…"

Shadow examined his options…It didn't take long for him to decide.

"I guess, If you want me to." Lying down, the former human shifted into a more comfortable position, "But no funny business!"

"No need to worry," Dash replied, lying down next to him and resting her head on his neck, "That's the _last _thing on my list…"

"So what's the first?" Shadow chuckled, beginning to drift off.

"Sleep…" Dash muttered.

After a few minutes of silence, Shadow drifted off.

Pushing herself closer to his sleeping form, Rainbow couldn't help but smile. She was used to thunder and lighting.

/

X sat in the T.S.M., reviewing the information he had gained from his conversation with Rainbow Dash. He had finally gained some useful info on "Shadow Storm".

He was a _human_, the direct descendants of the Precursors, from _Earth._

Judging from the conversation and other intelligence he had gathered in in Equestria, it seemed that Shadow, (now codenamed 935.3) based on his physiology and psychology, had begun going through the Z-Protocol long before arriving here, but it had halted for some reason.

This had not been the case for others, such as Edward, who had gone through the protocol in seconds, but the test had ultimately failed, as Richtofen had lost control and was wiped from reality as a consequence.

935 went missing, and 935.2 ended up like 115, but infinitely less severe. Hopefully, 935.3 would be a more suitable candidate.

Of course the growing problem of CH405 was still at hand, but since it seemed 935.3 was aware of the spirit's presence, X figured he could use that to his advantage and release the binds that held the Z-Protocol.

**Hopefully all of you got the Spongebob reference with the "Hash-slinging slasher." At some point when I was writing this, I saw the "Graveyard Shift" episode and knew that I had to put that in.**

**As always, please leave constructive criticism, rate, comment, and review.**

**This is ZeroKnight115, over and out.**


	12. The Next Morning

**Hey guys, ZeroKnight115 here, and without further ado (and nothing to talk about), I present to you chapter 12!**

**Enjoy!**

Chapter 12: The Next Morning

Shadow inhaled deeply. Something was different, but he couldn't put his hoof on it. There was this great smell, almost like roses, and he could hear the sound of breathing, but it wasn't coming from him. Opening his eyes slightly, Shadow quickly realized what it was: A fast-asleep Rainbow Dash, who had pushed herself into his chest and rested her head in his neck, causing her multicolored mane to brush against his nose. _Well…this just happened… _Shadow thought as he attempted to readjust himself, only to find one of his arms pinned underneath her, almost as if it had been…wrapped…around…her… _**"Fascinating…I didn't take you for that kind of guy…" **_The voices muttered in an amused tone. _Shut up. And besides, I was just making her feel safe from the storm and all. _Shadow replied mentally. _**"Keep telling yourself that…" **_The voices murmured. _I will tear out your aorta and use it as a straw... _But if Dash cuddling with him was a result of making her feel safe, then Shadow really couldn't complain. "Is it morning?" Rainbow murmured tiredly, almost as if she had been woken by Shadow's "conversation". "Yup," Shadow replied. "Maybe we should get up…" "Can't we stay for longer-" Dash began, only to be interrupted by Twilight's voice coming from downstairs. "Rainbow Dash? Spike?" Rainbow and Shadow immediately jolted up and looked at each other. "…buck." They said in unison.

Right that second, Shadow's brain began scrambling franticly to produce a plan to get Dash and him out of this situation. Then, a (somewhat) brilliant idea hatched in his mind. "I'll be right back!" He whispered to Dash as he quickly grabbed a syringe and flew out the window, only to open and enter the guest room's window. Inside the room, everypony was fast asleep. Everypony, except Spike, who seemed to have just woken up. "What's going on-" Spike mumbled groggily before Shadow pierced him with the syringe and injected the liquid inside, causing Spike to flop back onto his bed, out cold. Immediately, Shadow grabbed Spike's basket/bed (with the dragon inside) and flew back into Twilight's room, where he put it back in it's original position. _Das war einfach*… _Shadow thought as he made sure everything was more or less the way it was when he and Dash had put Spike here the night before. "Sorry to leave on such short notice…" Shadow said as he hovered outside the window. "…But…yeah…" Just as he was about to fly back into the guest room via the window, Twilight knocked on the door. "Rainbow Dash?" She called, opening the door. Luckily, Shadow was able to fly out at the last second and hid beneath the window to hopefully gain some information. "Hey Twi, what is it?" He heard Dash ask casually. "Do you know where Shadow Storm is? He's not in the guest room, and I got a letter from the princess addressed to him." That was strange to say the least…Why would Celestia want to contact him? Did it have anything to do with 601? Shadow's attention turned back to the conversation when Dash began talking. "Shadow just left, not sure where he went. How about I hold on to that for ya? If I see him, I'll give it to him." _I guess she's not the element of loyalty for nothing… _"Thank you Rainbow!" Twilight said happily. Shadow could hear Dash taking the letter. "Wait…how come the princess didn't send the letter through Spike?" Dash asked. "I was wondering the same thing…and instead of Derpy delivering it, it was a royal guard…then again, Shadow _is _a member of Group 601, so it's not surprising that the letter would contain important information of some kind." "Alright, I'll make sure to give it to him!" Dash said. "Alright! Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to my studies." Shadow heard Twilight close the door and trot away. "Well, that worked." Shadow muttered as he flew back into the room. "Here's the letter," Dash smiled, putting it on onto of the tables in the room. "And if you'll excuse me, I gotta get on my weather patrol!" And with that, she flew off. The former human's attention turned back to the scroll. He then proceeded to pick it up, open it, and begin reading.

_Dear Shadow Storm,_

_I regret not informing you sooner, but we have an urgent situation on our hooves._

_There is a charriot waiting near the Ponyville marketplace. You, Blazing Streak, and Inferno must take it to Canterlot, where Luna and I will explain the situation._

_Tell nopony about this, not even the elements of harmony._

_Sincerely, Princess Celestia._

The letter was vague to say the least. Why couldn't the others know? Why did Streak and Inferno have to come to? Of course, he couldn't just assume that the letter was referring to 601, but if not that, than _what? _None of this seemed to add up, but then again, these sort of things usually didn't. So for now, he would just have to go with the flow, and possibly gather some valuable intelligence. Shadow went and quietly woke Inferno and Streak, showing them the letter so they could get and understanding of what was going on. Afterwards, the trio left the library and headed toward the marketplace, searching for the chariot. After several minutes, Inferno spotted it. "Guys, here it is!" He called, the others acknowledging and boarding the chariot, which was being pulled by six pegasus royal guards. After a couple of hours of flight, Canterlot came into view: Neither Streak nor Inferno had _ever _actually been here, and had only seen the silhouette that was visible even from Ponyville. So when the magnificent city came into sight, the architectural portions of their minds were completely blown, with the cities' many spires, the waterfalls flowing down from the mountain and through the moat, and of course the royal castle, which was the trio's destination. After regaining their senses and departing the chariot, the Reality Trio wasted no time going to the Royal Palace, and in no time at all they were at the front door of the castle, only to be stopped by a group of armed guards. "Halt! Who goes there?" They shouted in unison, raising their spears. Shadow simply held up a badge that had the Group 601 insignia on it, and the guards lowered their weapons. "Don't worry gents, their with me." He said, gesturing to Inferno and Streak. The guards nodded and opened the door, permitting the Trio entrance. Inside, there was a grand chamber lined with stained-glass windows depicting several historical events, a red carpet, and two thrones at the end of the hallway, complete with their respective princesses.

Celestia and Luna.

The three former humans quickly approached the thrones and bowed respectfully. But, something was off: Celestia had an unusually grim expression, and Luna seemed concerned about something. "Is…something the matter?" Streak asked, Inferno giving him a "You don't say?" look. "There have been many strange happenings in Equestria, among them being changes in landscape, creatures appearing where they shouldn't, or even extreme weather patterns." Celestia began, the grim expression never leaving her face. "At first, we thought they were simply pranks of some sort. That is, until they began escalating rapidly. When I discovered the Ursas' attack on Ponyville, I decided to conduct an Investigation of my own. The results were…well, I wish the logical explanation were true…" She trailed off, seeming o be thinking of something. "So, what was the other explanation?" Shadow asked. "After questioning a few ponies on the incident, I discovered that two young colts, who had been seen fleeing the Everfree forest with the Ursa Minor behind them. When I asked them about it, they told me that they had not provoked either of the monsters: The Ursas simply appeared out of thin air, in a flash of light." The princess explained. "But…how do you know that it's _not _just magic of some sort?" Shadow asked. Celestia sighed. "Shadow Storm, I am aware of the fact that you were conversing with our enemy." She said flatly. _What? That doesn't make any sense! Unless…she means- _Shadow's thoughts were interrupted by Celestia. "Discord." She finished, almost as if she had read his mind. "Who?" Streak and Inferno asked in unison. "I presume you never gave that 'dream' a second thought, did you?" Celestia asked. "No, I didn't." Shadow replied. "Wait, I'm not following you here. Who's 'Discord'?" Inferno asked. "Discord," Celestia began, taking a deep breath. "Is the spirit of chaos and dishrmony, who used to rule over Equestira with an iron grip. However, Luna and I harnessed the elements of harmony to imprison him in stone. Shadow, I am grateful you didn't fall for his trickery: Discord has corrupted many a pony, and we wouldn't want to loose any of you." The solar princess explained. "Wait," Shadow began. "Before anypony moves on with this, how did you know about my dream?" "I think I can explain…" Luna said sheepishly. "As the-" But before she could continue, Celestia interrupted her. "Why aren't you speaking in the traditional style of speech?" She questioned. "Do I have to? They're my friends…" Luna pouted. "Fine…" Celestia smiled, rolling her eyes. "So anyway," Luna began once more. "as the princess of the night, I have the ability to enter the dreams of others, so, I imagine that explains it rather nicely…." "But how exactly are we going to deal with this if Discord's coming back? Do we tell the others?" Streak asked. "I'm afraid I cannot let you do that." Celestia replied. "If anypony were to know of his increasing power, then there would be panic, and Discord would become even _more _powerful. I want you three, along with government assistance, to take care of the problem, quietly. Do I make myself clear?" "Yes, your highness." The Reality Trio said in unison. They then proceeded to exit the castle and get back on the chariot, which took off toward Ponyville. After a long moment of silence, Streak spoke up. "Guys…I don't like this. The whole 'keep it a secret' part, and this whole operation, just gives off a weird vibe…" He whispered. "I'm not really liking it either, but this way, we'll be able to gather more information without any interruptions." Shadow added. "I guess your right, but I'm still not a fan of actively participating in a national conspiracy…" Inferno muttered. "Hey, we're here!" Streak semi-shouted as they landed in Ponyville. The trio got out of the chariot, which took off toward Canterlot afterward. But, as soon as they got out, they knew something was wrong.

"Where is everypony?"

**Sorry for the short chapter, but the next one should be up in about a week or so.**

***Translation: "That was easy"**

**Please leave constructive criticism, rate, comment, and review!**

**This is ZeroKnight115, Over and Out.**


	13. Bridle Gossip Part 1

**Richtofen: Heelloo Internet, It is I, zeh doctor! Normally Zero would be here, but due to both him and Shadow Storm being…preoccupied…**

***Scene switches to closet***

**Zero: RICHTOFEN! LET US OUT OF HERE!**

**Shadow: YOU BETTER NOT BE DOING MY JOB YOU PRICK!**

**Richtofen: I always knew zhey vhere in zeh closet! *Maniacal laughter* Now…to business... **

Chapter 14: Bridle Gossip Part 1

The Reality Trio wandered around a seemingly abandoned Ponyville, not sure what the hell had happened there, with the place looking like a ghost town.

"Great, we leave this place for a couple of hours, and the entire population vanishes. Typical." Shadow Storm groaned, looking around for anypony.

Suddenly, the trio heard a sound coming from Sugarcube Corner.

"Guys!" Pinkie whispered from the front door. "Get in here!"

Seeing no reason to argue, the trio obliged and quickly entered the shop; it seemed urgent. Pinkie quickly shut the door, panting slightly.

The trio quickly looked around the dark store, and a horrifying thought hit them.

"You're not gonna…invert our colors again…are you…?" Inferno asked, not really sure what to expect.

"No!" Pinkie whispered, "We're all hiding in here from _her!" _She said, pointing out the window.

Looking out the window, The trio saw the pony Pinkie had been referring to.

"She" stood in the middle of the deserted square wearing a cloak over her head, digging at the ground.

"Wait a second…" Shadow began, "What do you mean 'we're' hiding from her? Isn't it just us here?"

"We're all here!"

Turning around, the former humans were faced with all of their friends, who were lined up behind Pinkie: Twilight, Rainbow, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, and A.J.'s little sister, Applebloom. "What are you all doing here?" Shadow asked.

"We already told you!" Dash said, "We're hiding from her!"

"Well I'm not!" Twilight said. "I just got pulled in here!"

"But who _is _that?" Streak asked.

"That's Zecora!" Applebloom replied, earning a glare from her older sister.

"Ah' told ya' not to say her name!" A.J. scolded.

Shadow simply shrugged and turned back to the window, continuing his observations.

"Wh-why is she just…Digging?" Rarity asked in horror, "Doesn't she care about getting dirty?"

"Maybe she's looking for gems!" Spike spoke up, making his presence known for the first time. Shadow was about to correct him, but then his attention was brought back to Zecora as she pulled her hood back. Everypony except Twilight and the Trio gasped. "Huh…she's a Zebra. Wasn't expecting that." Shadow noted rather dully, Inferno and Streak reacting in more or less the same way.

"A…What? The others said in unison.

"Well, Zebras are several species of African equids that are normally associated with-" Shadow began, but was cut off by Streak.

"English please?" Streak asked, Shadow rolling his eyes.

"To put it simply, Zebras are a type of equine from a faraway continent. Or at least that's how it was back on Earth."

"Just look at those stripes, so garish!" Rarity exclaimed.

"In case you didn't know, they're BORN with stripes." Shadow corrected, annoyed. Rarity Then proceeded to gasp and faint overdramatically. "Many cases in point." The former human muttered.

"Why don't we just talk to her? I'm sure she has some interesting info on her." Inferno suggested, Streak and Shadow nodding in agreement. "I haven't seen her before though…where does she live?"

"That's just it! She lives in…The Everfree Forest!" Applejack said in terror, a loud noise that sounded like thunder ringing out. Everypony turned to see Spike, who had knocked a pile of pans over. "The Everfree Forest just ain't natural. The plants grow…" A.J. began.

"Oh my!" Streak exclaimed sarcastically.

"Animals care for themselves…" Fluttershy Added.

"Call the cavalry!" Inferno half-shouted in mock terror.

"And the clouds move…all on their OWN!" Dash finished, Rarity fainting again.

"And, we don't care." Shadow said bluntly.

"And that wicked enchantress Zecora lives in there doing her evil…stuff! Why, she's so evil I even wrote a song about her!" Pinkie announced, preparing for yet another song.

_She's an evil enchantress, _

_And she does evil dances,_

_And if you look deep into her eyes,_

_She'll put you into trances,_

_And what will she do?_

_She'll mix up an evil brew,_

_Then she'll gobble you up, In a big tasty stew,_

_Sooo…Watch- _But before Pinkie could finish her song, Shadow interrupted her.

"Really? Are you serious? You're singling Zecora out as 'evil' with no evidence whatsoever. That's both stupid, and incredibly racist." He said.

"What does 'racist' mean…?" Fluttershy asked quietly.

"It's when you judge somebody…or somepony because of how they look." Streak replied. "It happens a lot back on earth."

"Well, I dunno what you think, but I'm going to go ahed and talk to her." Shadow said nonchalantly as he walked to the door, only to have his path blocked by Rainbow.

"No way you're getting cursed!" She said, pushing him back inside.

The former human was about to protest, but he was interrupted by A.J.

"Where's Applebloom?!" She half-shouted, looking around.

"The door's open, she must have gone outside…" Shadow muttered as he took a look out of the door.

"There she is!" Blaze said, pointing out of the window to Zecora, Applebloom following her.

"That silly filly!" A.J. said worriedly. "We've got to go after her!"

"Good, then maybe we can make sense of all this shit…" Shadow muttered under his breath.

"Let's go!" Applejack shouted, running out the door.

Twilight was about to tell Spike to stay at the bakery for one reason or another, when Streak motioned for him to follow the others, the dragon happily obliging. Spike was just a baby, but then again, she _did _have a habit of leaving him behind when she and the others went to do things, so she decided he could come this once.

/

The group of ponies followed the path that Zecora and Applebloom had taken. They had gotten quite a head start, but they were able to catch up nonetheless. The group had just reached the edge of the Everfree Forest, with Applebloom just ahed, following Zecora.

"Applebloom!" A.J. shouted, running forward and scooping her little sister off the ground, stepping into a patch of blue flowers. Everypony else caught up, leg-deep in the blue flowers. With the exception of Spike, who was riding on Streak's back cavalier style.

"Beware, beware, you pony folk! Those leaves of blue are not a joke!" Zecora said ominously, in a deeper voice than they expected.

"You keep your creepy mumbo-jumbo to yourself, ya' here?" Applejack threatened, the rest of the elements of harmony saying something along the lines of that.

"Beware!" Zecora said one last time before she slowly retreated back into the Everfree Forest.

"Yeah, back at ya, Zecora! You and your…lame curse are the ones who better beware!" Dash shouted back.

"And you! Why couldn't you just listen to yer big sister?" A.J. asked her little sister in a stern tone.

"I…I…" Applebloom stuttered.

"Who knows what kind of nasty curse Zecora could have just put on you?" Applejack asked.

"Just like my song!" Pinkie exclaimed, "Evil enchantress! With the dances! With the trances!"

Shadow on the other hoof, just rolled his eyes and groaned in his usual irate fashion.

"Yeah, that would al be _perfectly_ plausible!" He said with fake enthusiasm. "_If_…curses actually existed, which they don't. Don't let superstition get to your brain."

"As much as I hate to admit it, he's probably right. Hay, in this kind situation, he's usually the only one who actually knows what's going on." Inferno agreed.

"Their right, girls, there's no such thing thing as curses!" Twilight announced, earning skeptical looks from the other five.

"Well, that's interesting to hear, coming from Miss Magic pants herself." Dash countered, tapping Twilight's horn.

"She doesn't even wear pants…" Streak muttered.

"So I've noticed…Bow-chika-bow-wow!" Inferno replied, doing a flawless Tucker impression, earning him a hoof in the face from his earth pony friend.

"My magic, _real _magic, comes from within. It's a skill you're born with. Curses are artificial, fake magic. It's conjured with potions and incantations; all smoke an mirrors meant to scare. But curses have no real power; they're just an old pony tale." Twilight explained. This, however, did little to deter the other ponies.

"One of these days Twilight, you're gonna find out that some pony tales are true!" Applejack warned.

/

**Later**

/

Shadow lay in his bed, trying to figure out what was going on. Not just with Zecora, but with the whole "Impending doom via infinite chaos" thing. Having recently joined the intelligence branch of Group 601, he would be able to get his hooves on normally restricted material. _Well, it's a start. _He thought as he got into a more comfortable position on his bed. Except it wasn't his bed, not in Equestria. Shadow opened his eyes to find himself in his room back on Earth as a human, AGAIN, which could only mean one thing.

"Happy to see me?"

"I will kill you." Colin replied flatly.

"With what? The _magic of friendship?" _Discord asked mockingly.

Colin simply reached under his bed and pulled out his CZ75, which he inserted a magazine into and cocked, loading a round into the chamber.

"Friendship, friendshit." The human smirked as he pulled the trigger, the crack of the firearm ringing throughout the room. To his dismay, however, Discord had somehow deflected the bullet with an inside-out umbrella that he had gotten from absolutely nowhere.

"Fine. Later." Colin said as he lowerd his pistol. "So, what the hell do you want?"

"So, I'm guessing those two royal pricks told you everything?" Discord asked unhappily.

"Yup. And None of us have any intention of helping you, so you're pretty much fucked. Now cut the crap; What's the real reason you came here?" The human asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Weeelll, I saw you and that rainbow pony getting pretty cozy that other night…" Discord said, wiggling his eyebrows.

Colin immediately drew his pistol and unloaded the contents of the magazine, all of the rounds hitting their mark, but besides fourteen holes in his head, the chaos god was fine.

"I take back what I said. I'm going to kill you now. But before I put a knife through your face…HOW DID YOU SEE ANY OF THAT?!" Colin shouted, his calm demeanor all but gone.

"Well, because of your…unorthodox mindset compared to the regular, _BORING_, ponies, you have more chaos energy inside of you altogether. And because of that, from time to time, I can see through your, and your friend's eyes." Discord explained.

"Number one: I hate you." Colin sighed. "Number two: She was just scared of the thunder and lightning."

"You're kidding. You're kidding, right?" Discord asked as he began laughing uncontrollably. "Y-you really think tha-that a PEGASUS would be afraid of a STORM?!" He shouted through laughter.

Colin opened his mouth to argue, but realized how pointless it would be. Really? A self-proclaimed master daredevil that spends hours each day dealing with storms and weather altogether that's afraid of thunder…Or a pony that wanted to cuddle with him…Nah.

"Yeah…I'm pretty sure she was afraid of the thunder."

"Whatever you say." Discord Smirked. "Anyway, you're about to wake up, and I'd like to let you know that you're going to be _quite _surprised when you wake up."

True to his word, right as Discord finished talking, everything went black.

/

Colin opened his eyes again to see that he was back in the library. Discord had said something about being surprised, and so far, nothing.\

lifting a hoof to rub his eyes, Colin immediately knew what Discord had meant.

He had hands. Real, human, hands.

Colin quickly realized that he also had _two _legs and quickly walked up to the mirror.

He was surprised.

He was human, and looked _exactly _how he did the day before he came to Equestria, retaining all his previous injuries and wearing the same clothes, which still had blood on them. Well, _almost _exactly the same: Instead of the dark brown color his hair had before, it was now pitch-black, and slightly longer than before. His eyes were now a molten-gold color and possessed an almost _metallic _sheen, and his skin was slightly paler than before. Besides all that, he also retained the animated quality of everything in this world.

"Scheiße…" He muttered, discovering that he still had his kukri with him.

"Shadow, you awake?" He heard Jack mumble.

Colin looked over, only to see a very human Jackson.

"What…the…fuck…?" Jack said as he looked between his now human friend and himself. Then, a sudden realization hit him.

"HELL YEAH! I CAN CURSE AGAIN!" He shouted, springing out of bed and landing face-first on the floor.

"Hey look, I'm a human!" He exclaimed after detaching his face from the floor.

Suddenly, it hit him.

_It_, being both the fact that he was human again, and Colin's fist as it collided with his jaw.

"Dude! What the fuck?" Jack groaned as he rubbed his jaw. "And why do you look…different? Y'know, besides being a person again? He asked, gesturing to his friend's slight differences.

"Don't know." Colin replied, shrugging.

"Hey, what's that?" Jack asked. There were sounds of argument coming from downstairs, seemingly between their friends, although there was an extremely low-pitched voice that none of them could Identify.

"I'm going to check on Shadow and Inferno!" They heard Twilight say, the sound of hoofsteps ringing through the library.

"You in here?" Twilight said as the door creaked open.

Shit was about to hit the fan.

**Richtofen: So now zeh reality trio are humans vonce more and vill no doubt wreak CHAOS und CARNAGE across Equestria! ZEH GLORIOUS CARNAGE! But, vhat awaits zhem in zeh next chapter of- *Gets hit on the head with a baseball bat***

**Zero: Get him! Hold him down!**

**Shadow: I'll kill you for doing that to us you creep!**

**Richtofen: VAIT! I can explain!**

**Zero: HIT HIM AGAIN WITH THE STICK!**

***Shadow does that***

**Zero: We apologize for this inconvenience. We hope to see you next chapter when we have things **_**under control**_. **C'mon Shadow, let's get him out of here.**

**Please leave constructive criticism, rate, comment, and review!**

**This is ZeroKnight115, Over And Out.**


	14. Bridle Gossip Part 2

**Hey there, ZeroKnight115 here!**

**I once more apologize for the inconvenient wait, which was due to my upcoming exams, several projects and school altogether.**

**Hope you enjoy!**

Chapter 14: Bridle Gossip Part 2

This world had brought too many awkward situations with it.

As Twilight slowly opened the door, Colin realized _just _how bad this could look: Twilight had no idea what humans looked like, he and Jack both had injuries, which suggested a fight (Something Twilight would associate with Shadow and Inferno), and Colin was covered in blood, holding a bloodstained knife.

Yep, they were completely screwed.

"Guys?" Twilight asked as she opened the door, her jaw dropping as she saw the two humans, who remained frozen in a vain attempt to not be seen (Which is kinda hard when you're standing up.)

The three simply stood where they were, staring each other down.

About thirty seconds had passes, and no one had moved at all, so Colin thought maybe Twilight had realized who they were.

"Hey Twi-" Was all he could say before Twilight lazered him in to the wall, almost sending him through it.

"SON OF A _SHISNO_!" He cried, clutching the area where Twilight Shot him.

"Shisno? What does that mean?" Twilight asked, slightly confused now.

"What is the most foul-smelling animal on this planet?" Colin asked.

"A skunk." Twilight replied.

"Does a skunk defecate?" Jack asked.

"Yes." Twilight replied.

"And does the skunk's defecation in turn produce its own excrement?"

"Ew, no!" Twilight said in disgust.

"Then there is no equivalent for shisno in your language."

Twilight nodded in understanding, but then suddenly realized who she was talking to, and lazered him as well.

"MY ORGANS!" He groaned, flying into the wall like a rag doll.

"Ow…splinters…" Jack mumbled as he slid of the wall and onto the floor.

"Alright!" Twilight said, standing over the two humans. "Who are you two and how did you-" She began, but was cut off by Jackson suddenly laughing out loud, pointing at something.

Colin then noticed Twilight's horn, and knew why Jack was laughing: It was covered in blue spots and was…flopping around. He knew what to compare it to, but he wouldn't say anything.

That didn't mean Jack wouldn't as well.

"Hey Twilight!" He said between laughter. "I think your horn might need some viagr-" Was all he could say before Colin slugged him…again.

"Oops, I think I had a muscle spasm. Maybe it's because I'm still not used to my new body." Colin said with a smirk as Jack stood up, fuming.

"Wait…Shadow? Inferno?" Twilight asked in surprise, interrupting said humans' fight. "What…are you…?"

"We're humans, and this is how we looked before coming to Equestria." Colin said simply with a shrug.

"Hey Twilight," Spike said, entering the room, "What's taking you so-"

Spike froze, just as shocked as Twilight had been.

"Uh…what are those things…?" He asked nervously, eyeing Colin's knife carefully.

"Relax Spike, it's just us. Something happened to me and Jack, sorta like how something happened to Twi here." Colin assured.

"But…her horn just got floppy! You guys are different a different species!" Spike exclaimed, throwing his arms up for emphasis.

"We don't really have an explanation for that…" Jack said slowly.

Suddenly, from the center of the library, came a sound that sounded like a cross between a polar bear being mauled by a narwhal and a high-pitched raspberry.

Everyone turned to see Pinkie, who's tongue had swollen considerably and was covered in blue spots, similar to Twilight's horn.

"Ith a purthe!" Pinkie said to the two humans.

"What does a purse have to do with anything?" Jack asked.

Colin simply facepalmed.

"She means 'curse', dumbass." He said with a groan.

"Ith a curt! A CURTH!" Pinkie spat, hopping up and down.

"Really Twilight, I don't see why you won't listen to us!"

Colin cringed as he saw Rarity; Her once beautiful mane and coat had become a horrifying carpet of hair, obscuring her sight.

Fluttershy was also present, but was completely silent. The only one missing were Dash and A.J.

"What about Robert? Do you think he's also human?" Jack asked Colin

He was about to respond, but was cut off by a familiar voice.

"Ah' hate to say Ah' told ya' so Twilight, but Ah' told ya so!" A high pitched voice came from Applebloom, who had walked in, along with a now human Robert who sported a swollen black eye, showing that the others had been "Shocked" by his transformation.

Everyone looked at Applebloom oddly, until she turned around to reveal a tiny Applejack standing on her back.

"It's a curse! A curse Ah' tell ya'!" A.J. shouted in her new high-pitched voice.

"But…Fluttershy seems fine!" Twilight said desperately

"Yes, there doesn't seem to be a thing wrong with her!" Rarity said jealously.

"Fluttershy…Are you okay?" Robert asked.

Fluttershy shook her head.

"Is there something wring with you?" He asked again.

Fluttershy nodded.

"Would you care to tell us?" He asked, slightly confused.

Fluttershy shook her head again.

"Yes you're not? Or… yes you will?" Robert asked, completely lost.

"Good gravy girl! What's wrong with you?!" A.J. Squeaked.

Fluttershy sighed in defeat.

"I don't wanna talk about it…" She said in the deepest, most uterly masculine voice any of them had heard, hanging her head in shame.

Robert could feel his left lung collapse.

Jack chose that time to loose his balance and trip over into Colin, sending them both tumbling down the stairs, right into the middle of the argument.

"Who in tarnation are _those _two!?" A.J. asked, slightly panicked.

"Jack? Colin?" Robert asked in disbelief. "You guys are humans too?"

"Chill out A.J., It's just us." Jack assured, helping Colin up.

"I imagine the fact that we're human is linked to why you all have…problems at the moment, but I don't have an explanation to why only certain features of you all were altered, while we're a completely different creature." Colin added, observing the ponies' various problems.

"So…yeah." Robert said slightly awkwardly. "This is pretty much how we looked before coming here. But don't worry, we're still the same guys; Just a little different looking."

"A _little_?" Rarity asked.

"Normally I would ask why you're covered in blood, but you'd probably just tell us some vague, morbidly disturbing story that has something to do with barren canyons, high-powered laser-cannons, and Spanish robots." Twilight said to Colin, slightly irked.

"You know me too well." He smiled.

"Not a fact I'm proud of…" Twilight admitted, rolling her eyes.

Finally, the mood eased, and everypony started talking about what could have caused their ailments. The most accepted theory was that they had been cursed, no matter how many points Twilight, Jack, Spike, Robert, or Colin made against it.

"Hey…What's that noise?" Spike asked.

Everyone grew silent in an attempt to hear it, and sure enough, there was some kind of droning sound off in the distance.

The best thing Colin could compare it to would be an aircraft doing a dive-bomb. But since when did the ponies have any planes, or aircraft in that matter.

Looking out the window, he understood.

A kamikaze-bombing Rainbow Dash might be the answer. Especially when she was surging toward the library.

Everypony had ducked in cover, everypony besides him, despite "encouragement" from the voices.

_**"MOVE OUT OF THE WAY"**_

_**"DUCK"**_

_**"GET DOWN, GET DOWN, GET DOWN"**_

_**"YOU IDIOT"**_

"Son of a…" Was all he could say before Dash crashed through the wall and into him, sending them both straight into the library's back wall.

"Ow…" Rainbow said, rubbing head, her wings beginning to flap rapidly.

"Here we go again…"

"Fuck you too, gravity…" Colin mumbled, partially unconscious. Suddenly, his eyes snapped open and he groaned in pain.

"…I think one of my ribs just punctured my spleen…" He said weakly.

_**"We told you to get down." **_The voices said in unison.

_I blame my old injuries. _Colin replied.

"Uh…girls?" Dash asked her friends, gesturing at the transformed Reality Trio. "What are those things?"

"Those _things _are us, Skittles."

"Shadow?! Streak?! Inferno?!" She said in total shock. "What the hay HAPPENED to you three?"

"More or less what happened to you six." Colin replied. "Anyway…can you please get off me? My internal organs are damaged as they are…"

"What do I weigh, a million pounds?" Dash asked in an irritated tone.

"Nah. Only about half that." He said with a smile.

"Har har." Dash said sarcastically.

Suddenly, Rainbow's wings started flapping rapidly again, and she held on to Colin to avoid taking off into the exosphere.

Seeing how Dash wasn't in control of her wings, Robert found some rope and handed it to Colin, who tied it around Dash's midsection, keeping her wings in from going crazy.

"There, problem solved." Colin said, getting up as Rainbow got off him.

"Why didn't I think of that…?" Jack wondered out loud.

"Irrelevant." Colin dismissed. "I say we go find Zecora, and see if she has anything to do with this. If she's innocent, we ask for her to help us. If she _did _curse us, then we call the authorities. And because, according to most of you, of the fact that we're 'cursed', that leaves Zecora unable to curse us again, leaving us with no risks to take. Again, this is also irrelevant if she is innocent which is extremely likely." Colin took a deep breath after his explanation. Everyone was just staring at him in slight awe; It was pretty much impossible to argue with his logic.

"That's…actually a _good _idea!" Twilight finally said, nodding in approval, which caused her horn to wobble. Spike snickered.

"Ah still think that dirty Zebra cursed us!" Applejack squeaked, causing Spike to laugh a little louder.

"I hope nothing bad happens…" Fluttershy said, sending Spike into hysterics.

"Spike!" Twilight shouted.

"Sorry, but just LOOK at you guys!" Spike said in between laughs. "There's Hairity! Rainbow Crash! Spitty Pie! Apple Teeny! Flutterguy!" Spike laughed harder with each nickname. However, his laughter stopped as he looked at Twilight and the three humans.

"What can I even do with you four?" Spike sighed, "Talk about a buzzkill."

Just as Hairity, Crash, and Flutterguy, were about to scold Spike, Jack spoke up.

"I hate to interrupt your developing lynch mob, but Applebloom and Apple Teeny are gone. Again."

Robert and Colin groaned.

"C'mon, it's likely that they went ahed of us to Zecora's residence. We're wasting time, and remember; Stick to the plan." Colin said before walking out the door, the others following suite.

"You coming Spike?" Robert asked.

"Sure!" Spike said excitedly, as he ran out the front door.

Twilight was just about to stop him, but remembered all the times they had left him behind while they went on some great adventure. She though of what Shadow would say. _"Spike might be small, but remember; He's a dragon, and can take care of himself. Never underestimate the small ones." _

That was true; Spike may seem like a baby, but lately he seemed to act more grown up. She shouldn't underestimate him.

/

"Did I mention how much I fucking hate this forest?" Robert grumbled as he and the others trudged through the thick Everfree foliage.

"Hey Jack, when you're a unicorn again, do us a favor and burn this place to the ground." Colin added, equally annoyed.

"Noted." Jack replied, he, Robert, and Colin trying to see through the thick foliage with their newly-regained flashlights.

"Um…does anypony hear that?" Flutterguy asked from the back of the group, stopping all conversation.

Everyone listened for what she had been talking about. Then, they heard it.

"Over here!" A Squeaky voice called from a nearby bush.

Suddenly, Apple Teeny jumped out from the bush, landed on Rainbow Crash's back, and undid the rope around her wings, causing them to go crazy again and take off.

"Yee-haw!" They heard Apple Teeny shout as she took off.

Everyone just stood there, frozen like statues.

"What…just happened…?" Spike slowly asked after about thirty seconds of silence.

"I…think Crash just got hijacked…"

/

The group followed Crash's trail of destruction until they found her circling over a strange hut.

"Look, there it is!" Twilight said as they approached the building.

"Thank you, for stating the obvious." Colin muttered sarcastically.

The group peered through one of the windows to see Zecora chanting in a language none of them could understand, standing over a cauldron filled with a strange liquid.

Spitty said something incomprehensible, and for some reason began to seemingly beg Flutterguy for something, who sighed and began singing Spitty's song.

"She's an evil enchant-"

"Are you serious?" Jack cut in. "This song again? This is racist! Stop singing!"

Flutterguy looked at Spitty and shrugged.

Spitty sighed and let out an annoyed raspberry.

"Alright, let's just go in, ask if she has a cure for whatever happened to us, find Applebloom, and go home. We don't give Zecora any trouble, she won't give us any trouble." Colin said as he, Spike, Robert, and Jack walked inside, the others following hesitantly.

"Can you cure us please?" Robert asked simply.

"Why have you come here this afternoon?" Zecora asked. "Are you friends with Applebloom?"

"That's right." Colin replied.

"I have sent her to collect a lot, to make the cure that's in my pot!" Zecora rhymed, gesturing at said cauldron.

"Is this everythin' you needed Zecora?" Applebloom asked from the door.

Zecora looked in the basket and nodded.

"So…what exactly caused all of this to happen to us?" Twilight asked.

But instead of Zecora, Colin, who was reading a book, answered.

"Poision joke. A blue flower that plays pranks on whatever it touches. We ran into those yesterday when we went after Applebloom. Zecora was just warning us about them with the whole 'beware' thing. And guess what? This book has the cure in it."

"Wow…" Crash muttered, "…this would have been nice to know earlier."

"Wait, it get's better." Colin continued with his signature smirk. "Twilight _knowingly _had it in the library the whole time, but refused to read it because of it's title. So really, this whole adventure accomplished virtually nothing. And don't ask how I know all this, because I won't answer."

Everyone's eyes were on Twilight.

"Let's just leave it that we were right the whole time." He added, moving on.

"So…how does this potion work?" Hairity asked.

"First it will be a moment, you must wait. To rid yourself of the things you hate." Zecora replied.

For the next couple of minutes, everyone stood around patiently while Zecora mixed in some final ingredients and got the potion to the right temperature.

"All you have to do, is soak your head, then you'll be cured, just as I said." Zecora explained.

Everyone looked back and forth, none wanting to go first.

Colin was about to shout out something along the lines of "FOR SCIENCE!", when Hairity stepped up and dunked her head in, going for all or nothing.

Everyone watched in anticipation as a bright light briefly engulfed Hairity and when it subsided, they found her back to normal.

Following Rarity being cured, everyone lined up and took their turns, having the effects of the poison joke removed.

Finally, after everypony had been fixed, Colin, Jack, and Robert stepped up simultaneously, emptied their pockets of all their human valuables such as their phones, wallets, and in Colin's case all of his items including his favorite black jacket.

"So…we're up?" Jack asked.

"Well no shit Sherlock!" Robert grinned.

"We don't have all day!" Dash said as she stretched her wings, glad to have them back.

The trio took a deep breath and plunged their heads into the pot all at once. They could feel their internal structures rearranging, but not in a painful way like their first transition from human to pony.

The trio pulled their heads out and observed their regained equine bodies.

"Better?" Shadow asked Dash.

She giggled, "Much. I liked you better as a pony anyway."

"I'm not sure weather to take that as a compliment or an insult…"

**Well, there you have it, chapter 14.**

**I seem to have adopted an new writing style of sorts, and the chapter seems higher quality when I write like that, so I'll be continuing with this format.**

**Please leave constructive criticism, rate, comment, and review!**

**This is ZeroKnight115, Over And Out.**


	15. Swarm of The Century Part 1

Chapter 15: Swarm of The Century Part 1

"Why did I agree to this again?" Rainbow Dash asked, inside the Carousal Boutique with Rarity, who was having her wear the most ridiculous looking outfit since Inferno told her about this monster from his world called 'Bieber' or something like that.

"You didn't," Rarity replied as she concentrated "Princess Celestia is visiting Ponyville, and _do _you want to look like a complete slob when she gets here? And besides, this was your favor to me for keeping your…secret."

Rainbow sighed.

"But it _does _look rather…nice on you." Rarity said slowly.

"Seriously?" Dash asked slightly hopefully.

"Oh, of course!" Rarity said as convincingly as possible.

"Well…if you say-" Dash said before being cut of by a fit of hysterical laughter coming from the front door.

Streak, Inferno, and a pony wearing what looked like a charred space suit, helmet included, were laughing their flanks off. The space-pony's damaged helmet suddenly crumbled, revealing a hysterical Shadow.

Dash's embarrassment was immediately noticeable with her red face, obviously upset with Shadow seeing her like this.

"W-w-what are you WEARING?!" The trio half-shouted, half laughed at around the same time.

"You L-look like…like a _girl!_" Shadow laughed, tears forming in his eyes.

"And what does that make me the rest of the time?" Rainbow asked angrily.

Shadow momentarily stopped laughing his guts dry and appeared to be deep in thought.

"…Yeah…I've got nothing." He said blankly after about ten seconds.

"Thanks." Dash said, rolling her eyes.

"You're quite welcome!"

Before she could respond however, a flash of light filled the room, revealing a very distressed Twilight who was franticly writing things down on a clipboard.

"Rarity!" She half-shouted. "Is everything here finished? I still have _lots_ to do! If we aren't ready for the Princess's arrival, this whole thing will be a disaster!"

Rarity immediately explained all the things that she was working on, which seemed to calm Twilight down a little bit.

"Speaking of disasters, what the hay happened to you?" Rainbow asked Shadow.

"Well…I fell from orbit." He replied calmly, "I was able to make it through the atmosphere, and Inferno used his magic to catch me before I became a black and red stain on the ground."

"Wow. That's coo-"

"Everypony!" Fluttershy shouted, running through the door excitedly before stopping and reverting to the 'Shy Protocol', "Oh…I'm sorry…was I interrupting something?"

"Nah, it's cool!" Streak smiled. "Go ahed and say what you were about to."

"Oh, well, you won't believe what I found at the edge of the Everfree forest!" Fluttershy said, shaking her mane lightly, causing seven large fly-like creatures to come out. "Oh my! There's seven?"

"These are adorable!" Twilight said as a bug flew around her. "What are they?"

"I don't really know…" Fluttershy said, "I'm not even sure where those other six came from! I just had one!"

Shadow, Streak, and Inferno just stood there, their pupils slightly dilated, silent.

"Do you all want one?" Fluttershy asked.

"Sure!" Twilight said.

"Definitely!" Dash agreed.

"If you don't mind parting with it…" Rarity said.

"You three go over there." Fluttershy said to the remaining three flies, pointing at the trio.

Before the three bugs could reach them though, Inferno summoned a force-field around them.

"Keep those things **AWAY** from us!" The trio shouted simultaneously, looks of terror on their faces.

"Guys, what's wrong"? Twilight asked.

"We're surrounded by giant bucking _horseflies_, THAT'S what's wrong!" Inferno shouted, horn glowing.

"But these are completely harmless!" Fluttershy protested.

"Well, bottom line is that they're bugs, and they're **huge**." Shadow said.

"And if you'll excuse us, we'll be getting out of a sector that's about to be scheduled for a quarantine lockdown." Inferno said.

And with that, a bright flash filled the room, and when it subsided, they were gone.

/

Shadow, Inferno, and Streak had teleported outside the boutique, glad to be away from the giant flies.

"Guys!" A familiar voice called.

The trio turned in the direction of the voice to see Pinkie pop out of nowhere.

"We need to get a trombone!" Pinkie said urgently, looking around as if someone could be listening.

"What for?" Shadow asked.

"So we can get rid of the parasprites before they take over Ponyville!"

"I'm going to assume those flies were the 'parasprites' then?" He asked.

"Yup! Pinkie said, suddenly cheerful again, "Good thing I already have most of the instruments, but we'll need to find the rest." Pinkie handed them a list of instruments.

"Well…we might have to call this a day…" She muttered, looking up at the sky, "Meet me tomorrow at noon!" And with that, she bounced off as if nothing had happened at all.

/

A few hours had passed, and Shadow had looked around for the instruments that Pinkie needed him to find, but with no avail. The voices had been unusually quiet lately, which was never a good thing. He had spent the rest of his time doing some research on parasprites and devising backup plans, in case Pinkie's failed.

Shadow looked at the clock on his I-Phone, and realized just how late it was. Twilight, Spike, and Inferno were already asleep. Knowing that tomorrow would be a busy day playing the role of exterminator, to was best to go and get some sleep. Seeing that Inferno had cast a barrier around the room's door and windows, hopefully preventing the insects' access to the room. He climbed into bed, and gave one last chuckle thinking of reducing those oversized flies to smoldering heaps of electric death before finally falling to sleep.

/

_**"Wake up."**_

Shadow mumbled something unintelligible.

_**"WAKE UP!"**_

He stirred slightly.

_**"**__**WAKE UP YOU FAILURE!"**_

Shadow sprang up out of bead, noticing how dark it was. Must be early.

Grabbing his I-Phone, Shadow turned it on, revealing the time.

"1:30 PM?!" Shadow said in shock. "How is it so dark?"

Slowly, Shadow walked up to one of the shields and tapped it with his hoof.

As the barrier vibrated, Shadow understood why it was so dark. A patch of parasprites flew off of the shield, allowing light in the room.

Outside the safety of the shield, all he could see were bugs.

"INFERNO!" Shadow shouted without thinking.

The unicorn in question jolted awake and landed on the floor, breaking the barrier in the process.

Inferno and Shadow both looked in horror as the swarm descended on their room.

"Well…shit."

**Again, sorry for the short writing. Hopefully I can get back into the usual swing of things soon. But for now, things will be a bit slower due to exams and such.**

**And yes, the almighty trio is afraid of bugs (To a point).**

**Please leave constructive criticism, rate, comment, and review.**

**This is ZeroKnight115, Over And Out**


	16. Swarm of The Century Part 2

**ZeroKnight115 here with another Chapter of The Elements of Reality!**

**I apologize for the long waits between recent chapters, and hopefully things will be back on track.**

**Normally I would have gotten this up sooner, but due to a neck injury I had recently received, it had to be delayed.**

**Enjoy!**

Chapter 16: Swarm of The Century Part 2

/

As Pinkie had thought, the Parasprites had quickly multiplied. Generally, they can't find enough food to reproduce at this rate, but due to the large quantities of food in Ponyville coupled with their habit of eating everything in sight, the Parasprite population had escalated exponentially.

She knew that the only way to get rid of them was to play all of the instruments and lead them away, and time was of the essence, so she couldn't afford to slack off!

So far, she had found a tuba, a harmonica, and a pair of worn cymbals. It wasn't much, but it was something. And if Streak, Inferno, and Shadow had kept their word, they would be quite close to finding all of the necessary instruments.

"_OH BUCK, IT'S ON MY NOSE!" _A familiar voice shouted from behind her as she trotted through the streets of Ponyville.

"QUICK, KILL IT WITH FIRE!" Another yelled.

The sound of a small explosion rang through the streets, causing Pinkie to turn around.

She was immediately greeted with the sight of Shadow and Inferno running toward her from a gargantuan swarm of Parasprites, some of the infernal bugs reduced to ash.

"You might have to find those instruments on your own, Pinkie!" Shadow said.

"But don't worry, we'll help play them once you find them!" Infeno added, torching a few more flies as they galloped through town.

"Good luck!" Pinkie called to them.

/

Shadow and Inferno ran as fast as they could from the swarm.

They weren't really sure where they were going, but they were sure that they would loose them, giving them enough time to formulate a plan.

Shadow wished that he and Inferno could have assisted Pinkie, but that option wasn't really plausible with a swarm of giant freak-flies chasing them.

He would ask how instruments would help them get rid of the Parasprites, but there was just no time for pondering the functions of Pinkie's mind: There was work to be done.

Shadow was dragged from his thoughts by the noise around them, or rather the lack thereof.

"We lost them…" Inferno sighed in relief, panting. "So, what's the plan?"

"We get to my workshop, get weapons and supplies, find Streak, lock down the area, and exterminate the Parasprites." Shadow replied, surveilling the area.

After a moment, Shadow noticed how strong the wind was. It had been perfectly calm before.

Looking around, he noticed that the grass around them was being pushed by the wind. No…it wasn't being pushed, it was being _pulled_, all toward a central point.

"I have a bad feeling about this…" He mumbled as he and Inferno walked toward the source.

/

"You can do it, Rainbow!" Twilight cheered as she and the others watched Dash fly around in circles at such speeds that a tornado formed.

Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Applejack all watched in anticipation as Dash's tornado sucked up all of the surrounding Parasprites and contained them in the vortex.

"Come on, girl!" A.J. encouraged, "Give 'em what for!"

"Oh look…" Fluttershy said over the wind, "There's Pinkie Pie…"

The girls all turned to see the pony in question, who was carrying an assortment of instruments.

"Hey girls! Wanna help me-" Pinkie started, but was interrupted when the strong winds pulled the cymbals that hung from her neck away, and into tornado.

"Hey! Give those back!" Pinkie called angrily.

Rainbow watched as the cymbals flew towards her, and tried her best to avoid them while keeping the twister steady at the same time.

But, it just wasn't possible.

"It's breaking up!" She shouted, causing everypony to run in the opposite direction.

"Get back to town everypony!" Twilight called as she ran, "We have to keep them from eating everything!"

Everypony followed her instruction, and followed suite. Except Pinkie, who attempted to retrieve her cymbals.

"You too, Pinkie!" Twilight shouted angrily. "You have to help fix this!"

Pinkie just scoffed and walked away, presumably to find more instruments.

Inferno and Shadow however, were walking toward the tornado, not having heard Twilight.

Seeing them below, Rainbow tried to tell them to stay back, but as soon as she opened her mouth to warn them, one of the flying cymbals slammed into the side of her head.

Following that, the tornado collapsed completely, releasing the Parasprites in all directions like a locust swarm on steroids.

/

Normally, Shadow would have ordered Inferno to summon a shield to protect them against the upcoming onslaught. Normally, he would take to the skies and come back when things had settled down. But when he saw Rainbow plummeting toward the ground with no hope of landing safely, all of his self-preservation urges temporarily shut down as he took off into the sky, and intercepted Dash's fatal meeting with the ground. But as soon as he landed, Shadow immediately noticed the giant swarm heading his way, and the sheer amount of Parasprites crawling all over him. He then proceeded to let out a very un-manly shriek as he attempted to get the infernal bugs that coated his body off of him.

After noticing Shadow's predicament, Inferno came to his rescue by sending out a magical shockwave that blew away the Parasprites, but they just kept coming.

Just as the insects were almost upon them, a gold bolt of lighting hit part of the swarm, arcs of electricity incinerating one fly after another.

Shadow and Inferno turned to see none other than Streak, who was wielding Shadow's Wunderwaffe.

"Take _THAT, _you sons of bitches!" Streak shouted as he fired another bolt, killing more of them in a macabre fireworks display and ran towards the others once the insects' ranks had been thinned enough for Inferno to create a shield around all of them.

"Holy shit!" Inferno said while grinning widely. "You really saved our asses there! Thanks!"

"Hey, where did you get that!?" Shadow asked Streak accusingly, pointing his hoof at his beloved murder-machine.

"It was lying around in the library, and I thought it would come in handy. Which it did." Streak replied, handing Shadow the weapon.

They would have talked on, but a groan of pain brought them back to the situation at hand.

"SKITTLES!" Shadow shouted, running over to her unmoving form.

Not hearing a response, he began to panic slightly. Inspecting her injuries, he saw that one of the cymbals had hit her at an angle where it cut the side of her head extremely deeply from her eyebrow to her ear, which had been almost cut in _half, _and was gushing blood at an exponential rate.

_"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit…"_ Streak murmured, looking as if he was about to puke his guts out.

"Inferno, can't you use a healing spell or something?" Shadow asked franticly, causing Inferno's face to pale.

"I… don't know any healing magic!" He confessed. "I…I could try…but I'd probably just end up incinerating her! And with Twilight gone…"

"Shadow…" Dash murmured, "My head kinda hurts…"

"Don't move; You hit your head and you're bleeding a little bit…" Shadow lied, watching as the flood of blood stained her coat, turning it a horrific shade of purple.

"Can you fix it…?" She asked.

"I…don't think I can…" He replied sadly.

"That's a bummer…" She said slowly, clearly about to pass out.

"Skittles!" Shadow said loudly, "Stay with me here!"

Rainbow was silent.

The trio had absolutely no idea what to do.

"I can't do anything…" Shadow muttered, eyes closed, "Is it because I'm the element of _Death!?_ Even if I _knew _how to use the Goddamn thing, It would still be _pointless!" _Shadow shouted in anger. "Is _that _all I can do?! Kill-" All of a sudden he stopped mid sentence, seemingly listening to something.

Shadow then opened his eyes, his pupils slightly dilated, and an unnerving smile on his face.

"Guys, I have an idea." He said, perfectly calm and showing no signs of his former anger, something that disturbed his friends to no end.

"Mentioning the Element of Death got me thinking:" Shadow began, not waiting for Streak or Inferno to reply, "If I'm supposed to technically be the 'Grim Reaper' like that voice said back when we fought Nighmare Moon, then in theory I should possess the ability to harvest souls."

"Why is that important exactly?" Inferno asked.

"If I can harvest souls, what's stopping me from transferring the life-energy into other beings?" Shadow asked, his grin widening. "And looking around, there's _plenty _of material for me to work with!"

Inferno and Streak immediately understood when they saw the swarm of Parasprites surrounding them.

"Jack, let me out of the shield." Shadow said.

Inferno instantly obliged, not content with being trapped in an inclosed space with a potentially homicidal pegasus.

Shadow calmly walked toward the center of the swarm, showing no signs of fear whatsoever.

The Parasprites on the other hoof, while formerly emotionless, seemed to buzz in fear as Shadow approached, as if an ancient memory that had been lost from countless generations of evolution, had returned to haunt them.

Inferno and Streak watched as the air around Shadow became tainted with a dark energy that seemed to radiate off him, and shivered as the temperature dropped about fifteen degrees, signifying the appearance of his medallion, which appeared around his neck.

No less than five seconds later, giant arcs of black and white electricity began arcing from Shadow's form, growing more and more intense by the second, accompanied by an otherworldly rumbling.

Inferno expected Shadow's trademark black needles to burst out of his shoulders and back, or his body to become a walking arsenal of death-based weaponry. But he _never _would have expected what happened next.

Inferno and Streak watched in anticipation from the inside of the shield as the deathly lightning became more intense and as the rumbling increased.

But all of a sudden everything ceased.

Inferno was wondering what the hell had just happened, when _it _happened.

Everything was completely still, when all of a sudden, from what seemed to be Shadow's _spine,_ burst a sight that would give Streak and Inferno nightmares for quite a while; Ten gigantic narrow masses made up of what looked like solidified black and white electricity, with various razor sharp spines adorning their crackling and shifting forms. But what really sealed the deal was what was at the ends of the ghastly appendages: Ten absolutely _colossal _black human skulls made of a mixture of black lighting and liquid shadows, that were horribly distorted to no end with gigantic fangs, wide abyssal red eyes that glowed like traffic lights, and worst of all, they seemed to be _alive._

_"'_What in Mary's holy name…is that _abomination?" _Inferno asked in pure horror, putting more and more energy into his shield, not wanting to take any chances.

The Death Arms continued to pull themselves out of Shadow's spinal cord, the poor pegasus's limp form rising into the air like a marionette and liquid shadow spraying all over the ground violently.

The black skulls seemed to look around and take in their surroundings, all of them eventually staring at the Parasprites, their red eyes literally looking into their souls.

The Death Skulls all opened their ghastly jaws far wider than what should be possible, and simultaneously let out a deafening, demonic, primeval screech that seemed to reach the corners of the planet, and engulfed the majority of the swarm, causing each Parasprite to dissolve into a bluish-white glowing sphere that went down the limbs and into Shadow's spinal cord.

Blue light began to seep up the Death arms from Shadow's spine, covering the appendages. Once they had been completely engulfed in soul energy, the energy burst out in a concentrated blast directed at Dash, healing her completely.

Their task accomplished, the Death Arms forced themselves violently back into Shadow's spine, causing him to fall back down, completely drained.

"That was…Incredibly easy…" Shadow murmured, clutching his throbbing head.

_"_THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID!" Inferno shouted from inside the shield.

"SHUT UP!" Streak shouted, ready to strangle him.

"Later!" Inferno replied as he dispelled the shield and teleported over to Shadow and Rainbow.

"Uhhh…" Dash mumbled, "Shadow?"

"Skittles!" Shadow said, forgetting the ghastly abomination that seemed to live in his spinal cord. "Are you okay?"

"Uh…did you fix my cut?" Dash asked, seeing, Inferno nod. "How? I thought you said-"

"That's not important." Streak interrupted, "We gotta get to town _right now;_ Things have gone to hay real fast, and we have to meet up with the others."

"I agree, let's go." Shadow said, "But first, let me get some _tools…_"

/

"What do we do?" Fluttershy asked worriedly, "They're eating all the food in town!"

"My apples!" A.J. gasped, realizing what that meant, and quickly ran to Sweet Apple Acres.

"We've got to do something!" Twilight said, "I got it! I'll cast a spell to make them stop eating all the food!"

"Will it work?" Spike asked.

"I'm not sure, but I hope it does!" Twilight replied as she charged the spell and let out several sonar-like waves of energy, grinding the Parasprites' progress to a halt.

A lone Parasprite flew up to an apple in a basket and sniffed it, rejecting it afterwards.

Everypony sighed in relief, thinking it was all over.

Suddenly, the fly ate the whole _basket, _and spit out the apple.

The swarm then proceeded to begin devouring everything that wasn't food, from paper to machined steel.

"That's just…not fair…" Spike said, slack-jawed.

Twilight watched as her friends ran off to protect their respective homes, and as Streak, Shadow, Inferno, and Rainbow ran towards her, all of them carrying one of Shadow's strange devices.

"What the buck is going on?" Inferno asked, alarmed that the bugs were eating everything now.

"A spell backfired, and now the Parasprites are eating everything _besides _food!" Twilight exclaimed in horror.

"Well then what the hay are we supposed to do!?" Streak asked angrily.

"Ladies and gentlecolts," Shadow said, loading a Wave Gun, "We're going to be doing this Shadow Storm style."

/

Pinkie trotted happily through town.

She had found all the necessary instruments, and now was the time to get rid of the infestation.

Pinkie walked though town with an assortment of instruments on her. Walking into the center of town, she saw Shadow, Twilight, Rainbow, Inferno, Streak, and Spike standing around a pile of weird gadgets. She decided to ask what was up.

"What's everypony doing?" Pinkie asked.

"Well, the idea was to exterminate the Parasprites, but Dr. Richtofen here forgot to bring enough ammo!" Streak replied angrily, pointing at Shadow.

"Not my fault." Shadow said quickly, rolling his eyes.

"Well, I have the solution right here!" Pinkie said, gesturing to her instruments.

"You found them all?" Inferno asked in surprise.

"Yup!" Pinkie smiled, "Wanna help me get rid of the Parasprites?"

"You know it!" Streak said with vigor, Inferno and Shadow nodding in approval.

"What about you guys?" Pinkie asked Twilight, Dash, and Spike.

A deadpan stare was their response.

"So, do any of you know how to play musical instruments?" Pinkie asked the Trio.

"Do instruments of torture count?" Shadow asked hopefully.

"No." Pinkie replied.

"Damn…" He cursed under his breath.

"Anyway, we're going to play these instruments and the Parasprites will follow us out of town!" Pinkie explained.

"I suppose that makes enough sense." Shadow said, nodding.

Pinkie was holding an accordion, a tuba, a banjo, a harmonica, and even a pair of cymbals! How she fit them on was a mystery though.

"I couldn't fit these though…" Pinkie said, "Can you play these?"

Pinkie bent down and picked up the instruments, showing them to the Trio.

"Yeah, we can definitely play those…"

/

Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Spike, and Rarity all stood at the Princesses' arrival place. Everything had fallen apart an such a short amount of time, and there was no hope of putting it back together in time.

"Well, this day stunk…" Rainbow sighed.

"Why did I have to find that bug…?" Fluttershy asked sadly.

"Y'all have that right." Applejack agreed, "Those pests ate the whole barn…"

Suddenly, the sound of music began booming from the streets.

"Oh no, the Princesses' procession is here, it's all over!" Twilight said in fear.

"Uh…You might wanna see this…" Dash said, pointing to the source of the music.

They all turned turned and looked, and were utterly flabbergasted.

Pinkie and the Trio marched away from town, playing instruments.

But that wasn't all: Behind them, were all the remaining Parasprites, following them and bouncing to the music.

As the quartet marched closer, they saw that while Pinkie was playing a giant assortment of instruments, while Shadow, Streak, and Inferno were simply blowing on their kazoos every few seconds in time with the music.

They simply stood there in awe as the four led the entire infestation away from Ponyville.

"Look, Twilight Sparkle has held a parade in our honor!" Luna's voice shouted from behind.

Doing a double-take, Twilight had totally forgotten about the Princesses' arrival, each of them in their own chariot.

"What are these creatures?" Celestia asked as the line of insects hopped past her, "They're simply adorable!"

"They're not _that _adorable…" Dash grumbled.

"I'm terribly honored that you and the good citizens of Ponyville have organized a parade in honor of my visit." Celestia thanked.

"Parade?" Twilight asked, suddenly smiling, "Oh. Yes, the parade!"

"Unfortunately, this visit is going to have to wait for another time. I'm afraid an emergency has come up in Fillydelphia. Apparently there's been some sort of _infestation_." Celestia explained

"An…infestation?" Twilight asked uneasily.

"Yes, a swarm of incredibly bothersome creatures have invaded the poor town. Celestia said, "I'm sorry Twilight, to have put you though so much trouble."

"Trouble…?" Twilight asked before smiling nervously, "Oh no, it was no trouble at all!"

"Well, if that's the case, then we'll be on our way. But before we have to go, would you care to give me your latest report on the magic of friendship?" Celestia asked.

"Of course!" Twilight said, momentarily collecting her thoughts. "I've learned… that sometimes the solution to your problems can come from where you least expect it… It's a good idea to stop and listen to your friends' different opinions, and perspectives… even when they don't always seem to make sense."

"That is a valuable lesson Twilight." Celestia said slowly, "However, we must be heading back."

"Of course, Princess." Twilight said, bowing.

After the princesses left, she turned back to Pinkie and the Trio and watched as the rest of the Parasprites bounced away into the forest.

"Hoorah!" Streak cheered as he and Shadow high-fived, doing the same to Pinkie and Inferno.

"Listen, Pinkie-" Twilight began, approaching the four.

"No need to apologize!" Pinkie said, "If I were you, I would have thought I was crazy too!"

"Your playing was also very nice." Fluttershy said.

"Ah'm pretty sure Pinkie did most of the work there…" Applejack muttered.

"No, _I'm _pretty sure the Parasprites would _never _have followed us if we didn't create ultimate harmony with those kazoos!" Inferno said in mock-defense.

Everypony laughed at that.

"Uh, I hate to be 'that guy', but we've still got a problem." Shadow said, causing the laughter to cease.

"What would that be?" Twilight asked.

_"That." _He replied simply, pointing at the demolished town of Ponyville.

_"SON OF A BITCH!"_

/

**Finally, we get a glimpse of what the Element of Death is capable of, but nowhere close to the elements' full capabilities.**

**Reviewing is HIGHLY encouraged, and nothing would make me happier than for you to post something; I am always open to constructive criticism, advice, suggestions, ideas, and everything else besides flames.**

**Constructive criticism and reviews altogether help me fill in any existing gap in the story, allow me to see what you think, and allow me to further improve my developing story, so please put what you're thinking in the review box, and click the 'Post Review' button!**

**This is ZeroKnight115, Over And Out.**


	17. Progress Update

Chapter 17: Progress Update

Alright, sorry about the sudden stop in updates, but I assure you, there's a reason for that.

After poking around in my earlier chapters, a sudden realization hit me;

They were_ horrible._

I've decided to temporarily hold the posting of new chapters because I feel that I need to progress certain aspects of the story and improve the earlier chapters before continuing to make that plausible, and so I will be rewriting the first chapters (Mostly basic refinement and improvement).

The good news is, that with summer vacation coming up, I will have the opportunity to flood my story with a torrent of new chapters once I am finished with my objective.

**This is ZeroKnight115, Over And Out.**


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